You won't believe this Dr. experience!

[Guest guest]

After 5 years and 4 doctors, I took the recommendation of many sources and

drove two and a half hours (one way) to see a doctor near New York City

well known for his work with Lyme patients.

Three of my doctors had sent my medical records to this man, and I had

faxed my complete Lyme medical history.

I spent 20 minutes in the waiting room, 15 minutes in an

administrator's room, and 35 minutes with a physician's assistant, each time

repeating

what would have been in those records. (It seems they had only received one

of the four, and although the administrator and P.A. went to the office to

see if they could find the rest, they said they could not.) Lacking these

records, the P.A. did not know (as I did not) if I had ever been tested

for co-infections, or what other things I had been tested for.

The esteemed doctor appeared and asked me no questions, did not

examine me, and did not order any tests. From the limited information the P.A.

was able to gather, he simply said that he thought the best thing for me

would be to take amoxycillin. Then he left.

I was too shocked to really know how to react, and I made my way to

the front desk to pay the steep (non-insured) fee of $490. I asked the

office manager to please be on the lookout for all the missing faxes and to let

me know if/when they ever came in. She casually pointed to a small stack

of papers beside her and said, " Oh, here are the faxes from the past few

days. I haven't gotten around to them yet. "

I was absolutely flabbergasted. You pay that kind of money and invest

that kind of time and they don't bother to make sure the doctor has read

your records??? When I asked if she could look through them now, she said

she was really busy. I said I would look through them. She said she would.

About 7 pages down was one of the faxes from one of my doctors. She

smiled. " You see? The rest of them must be in there too! " And she resumed

the rest of the work she had been doing. I didn't push it at this point,

because even if she had found them now, I was sure the doctor wasn't about to

read them now, think about the contents, and see me again. But I was

floored.

My husband wants to stop the credit card payment. I told him that

even though I was very disappointed, this is at least an option no other

doctor had tried. His prescription is for a DOUBLE dose of amoxycillin. (It

is

only for a month, and then I am supposed to reappear once a month for a

$175 fee for him to ask if it is working and either refill the prescription

or prescribe something else.) Hey, amoxycillin is a really simple drug and

it had been tried on me, but never in double dosage - and no other doctor

was willing to give me a stronger dose or to refill any antibiotic after it

had run its course, no matter if I was still experiencing some symptoms or

not. Maybe, I told my husband, it is worth it to pay the $490+ just to

have access to a doctor who would refill a prescription.

This is so frustrating. ANY doctor around my neighborhood could

prescribe this - covered by my insurance policy and without taking days out of

my life to travel back and forth. If only they would be willing to.

At any rate, I was writing partly to hear your reaction and partly

just because I needed to vent. AND to warn you not to believe the hype

associated with any doctor. (Also, if you have requested that records be sent,

phone at least a couple of days ahead of time to make sure the new doctor

has received them and plans to read them.)