Why, Oh Why?

[mushroom]

WHY, oh WHY????

is there not a jigsaw pyzzle solver in the medical community of specialists. Why is it that when I go:

To a cardiologist I'm a heart

To a nephrologist I'm a kidney

To a GI I'm solely a gastrointestinal tract, (most likely with IBS)

To a pulmonologist there's nothing wrong with me that a respiratory test and a sleep study won't fix

To a respiratory specialist I must have either a CPAP or a BiPAP machine (under the British system)

To a dermatologist, I am eczema or acne (or on rare occasions she actually finds the skin cancerrs)

To an orthopedist, I am a knee (in my case), when actually I am also a sacroiliac and a scoliac, and a lot of other things case

To a general surgeon I am a piece of flesh to be carved in whatever manner seems suitable (hold the gravy)

To a neurologist, all pain is referred from the spine somewhere

To an ENT I need surgery on my sinuses

To a rheumatologist - there is no connection between food and joint pain

To my PCP, bless her heart, I am someone who needs referring to one of the above.

What hope is there if your problem spans the specialties of gastroenterologist, cardiologist, respiratory specialist, electrophysiologist, nutrtiionist??? Have these people ever all been together in one room at the same time in the history of man?? Bang, bang, bang goes the head against the brick wall. You go in full of hope and you come out a totally deflated balloon, because you have been offered a raisin out of the chutney. You can't judge a chutney by its raisins alone but this man was a raisin specialist. Doesn't the chutney depend on the other ingredients too??? But there was no garlic, onion or vinegar specialist in the room, much less a tomato, apple, ginger, ____________ specialist, just this little raisin man. So no, we will treat the raisin, it must be below par, and once we bring it up to snuff you, the chutney, will be just fine..

End of rant. Thanks for listening.

[pricklypear1971]

I don't know how to make the wiggly faces on the phone so imagine one laughing, here.

Its not funny, but it is something I smile about to keep from crying about...

And I salute you, with a shot of Ciroc vodka...because it is very fine, made from grapes of wine...oh lookey, I made a rhyme!

[mushroom]

I am drinking scotch, because I think I am going to scotch the whole lot of them, and scotch the idea of getting any help from any of them. I will then find sme gin and live in sin, find some wine and dine and dine, drink some rum and have some fun (well, it almost rhymes) and then go shoot myself in the head

[beebs]

Ah Mushroom - I have a great rhuemy, she told me alot of her clients feel much better gluten free in regards to joints! I think you need some new doctors!!

[SleepyBunny]

Our doctors are jerks, our colons don't work, so I'll sit on me bum and drink some rum

[Juliebove]

I can soooooooooo relate! Every specialist I go to tells me I don't have _____. I have whatever their specialty is and not the other problems. Riiiiiiiight.

[ravenwoodglass]

Very well put Mushroom. Heaven help the folks (like us) that have ONE thing that affects multiple systems. There used to be doctors that do look at the whole person. Maybe that's why it took a doctor close to 90 to actually finally diagnose me. He went to school before we got parceled out like cuts of meat.

[IrishHeart]

I finally found a GI doctor (fresh out of med school) who uttered the words after reviewing my lengthy ordeal with me "Dammit, we need to look at the whole patient and her health history, not just parts and isolated symptoms." (He was appalled at what I went through and how many "specialty" doctors I saw for years trying to figure out what the hell went wrong in me.) I FIGURED IT OUT. (insert swear words here)

I stood up and hugged him. He's my doctor for life.

Shroomie--

Weep no tears, heave no sighs

You're still the apple of our collective eyes.

Sip some scotch and think "all's well";

The doctors? They can go to hell.

Not my best poetic effort, but it's still early in the morning.....

Cheers and a hug,

IH

[bartfull]

The majority of our physicians

Are worse than slimy politicians

They take our money with gleeful greed

And sell us pills we do not need

They seem beset by tunnel vision

When diagnosing our condition

And if by chance you're not insured

Why then your treatment is deferred

So we search and search for one who cares

There must be ONE good doc out there!

[IrishHeart]

There must be ONE good doc out there!

....alas, they are as rare as that perfect squishy loaf of gluten-free french bread.

Excellent poem, Ms. Bart!

[mushroom]

So I had been on the "waiting list" for three months to see this jerk because specialists have to have lists to make them feel important, and I am now on the next waiting list for a trial of a raisin that has been soaked in brandy. I have already failed a trial of both brandy- and port-soaked raisins, and had success (in a different jar ) with rum-soaked raisins, but rum-soaked raisins are not imported (and even if they were he would not use them because he doesn't believe raisins should be soaked in rum), so I will have to be trialled on a lesser quantity of the brandied raisins Does anyone have a sense here that this trial is not going to work?

I think I'll just drink the brandy and forget about the raisins altogether.

Oh, and I was also told that I could go "privately" and might get quicker access to the raisins that way (but they still wouldn't have any rum)

Isn't it fun navigating the seas of life.

[pricklypear1971]

I think there should be a Celiac Medical Scholarship Fund. We could grow our own?

[IrishHeart]

I'll see if my guy is willing to let us clone him.

Personally, I think that COLLECTIVELY, we know more than they do about Gluten and Celiac and the associated conditions.

IMHO

[IrishHeart]

Isn't it fun navigating the seas of life.

yo ho ho...indeed, matey.

[researchmomma]

Mushroom: you said it sister. I have so many ologists for my daughter....can't one of them just look at the entire child and ask what is causing all this??? ARGH

I am super frustrated because I have a friend who is 45 years old who lives in Germany has SEVERE osteoporosis, D and C alternating, lactose intolerant and so on and so on. I suggested that she may be Celiac or NCGI. She said: Oh, I will ask my doctor. She went today and they did a test where they put gluten on her skin (?). I am thinking a scratch test and told her NOPE she did not have Celiac. WTF???? She said she trusts this person, who is a homeopathic doctor, because she is always right. I begged her to get the test since it is a simple blood test but I doubt she will listen. Apparently, if you put gluten on your skin and have no reaction you are NOT gluten intolerant? Think of the time and money I could have saved!!!!!

Sorry for ranting on your post but I guess this homeopathic doc looks at the ENTIRE person but they aren't doing such a hot job. So who knows what the best answer is.

[Gemini]

Mushroom: you said it sister. I have so many ologists for my daughter....can't one of them just look at the entire child and ask what is causing all this??? ARGH

I am super frustrated because I have a friend who is 45 years old who lives in Germany has SEVERE osteoporosis, D and C alternating, lactose intolerant and so on and so on. I suggested that she may be Celiac or NCGI. She said: Oh, I will ask my doctor. She went today and they did a test where they put gluten on her skin (?). I am thinking a scratch test and told her NOPE she did not have Celiac. WTF???? She said she trusts this person, who is a homeopathic doctor, because she is always right. I begged her to get the test since it is a simple blood test but I doubt she will listen. Apparently, if you put gluten on your skin and have no reaction you are NOT gluten intolerant? Think of the time and money I could have saved!!!!!

Sorry for ranting on your post but I guess this homeopathic doc looks at the ENTIRE person but they aren't doing such a hot job. So who knows what the best answer is.

Skin testing is for IgE allergy issues, not intolerances. Looks like the doc thought she had an allergy. You have to eat gluten to provoke a reaction so putting it on your skin is a joke. That's as bad as US doctors running the wrong Celiac blood panel tests and they do it all the time. Let's face it folks...doctors want to diminish the prevalence of Celiac because , in the long run, they will lose business if they don't. It's in their best interest to keep people sick enough that they have to keep running off to the doctor for pills to suppress their symptoms. Plus, you have a population that want it this way. God forbid anyone has to give up their donuts.

[IrishHeart]

Apparently, if you put gluten on your skin and have no reaction you are NOT gluten intolerant? Think of the time and money I could have saved!!!!!

Knowing you as I do know, from all of our good chats, I am thinking you are being incredibly sarcastic here???

Just so the other readers know.

[researchmomma]

Knowing you as I do know, from all of our good chats, I am thinking you are being incredibly sarcastic here???

Just so the other readers know.

Ahhhhh you know me so well! Yes very sarcastic. My friend emailed me and she will have her doctor check in 6 months because she is not malnourished so she can't have Celiac disease. Oh well, I tried.

[IrishHeart]

.... because she is not malnourished so she can't have Celiac disease.

..... picture IH banging her head against the wall....

[Bubba's Mom]

My hubby and I were just discussing this very topic last night. Each specialist has their own little narrow description of the feild that they specialize in, and if you have symptoms that fall outside of that narrow field, they either tell you there's nothing wrong with you..or pass you on to someone else!

AND they mostly want to just prescribe a chemical that will numb each symptom, rather than look for a cause..and fix it!

As a side note..I just had to pay to get copies of my medical records so I can take them to my new PCP. I read through the reports on office visits to my PCP. It was so full of outright lies and half truths that I wanted to go kick somebody's ***!

The office visit where I asked for a blood panel for vitamin/mineral levels..and thyroid testing,because it might help find the cause of my anxiety and insomnia, and was told.. "If I'm taking a multi-vitamin I couldn't be low on any vitamins or minerals, and she *could* do a TSH level, but that's all..not free t4 T3 or Hasimoto's test, because it's not necessary." She noted that she recommended blood tests be run, but I declined.

[mushroom]

!

As a side note..I just had to pay to get copies of my medical records so I can take them to my new PCP. I read through the reports on office visits to my PCP. It was so full of outright lies and half truths that I wanted to go kick somebody's ***!

Yes, it always pays to find out what they are saying about you (and sending on to others who may see you - because then the lies get perpetuated )

I was referred to a neurologist once for shoulder pain, and he said I needed physiotherapy. The "treatment" the physio was giving me didn't make any sense so I got a copy of the neuro's chart. His records said I was complaining of neck pain (uhn-uhn, not this lady) which was referring to my shoulder and therefore the physio was treating my neck I had to write to the neuro to correct my records because I didn't want a hx of neck pain following me around (I worked in personal injury litigation at the time ) And not too long after I had a bad neck injury in an auto accident, and if I hadn't done that I would have had a pre-existing condition

[Bubba's Mom]

Yes, it always pays to find out what they are saying about you (and sending on to others who may see you - because then the lies get perpetuated )

I was referred to a neurologist once for shoulder pain, and he said I needed physiotherapy. The "treatment" the physio was giving me didn't make any sense so I got a copy of the neuro's chart. His records said I was complaining of neck pain (uhn-uhn, not this lady) which was referring to my shoulder and therefore the physio was treating my neck I had to write to the neuro to correct my records because I didn't want a hx of neck pain following me around (I worked in personal injury litigation at the time ) And not too long after I had a bad neck injury in an auto accident, and if I hadn't done that I would have had a pre-existing condition

Wow..that's crazy! Good thing you found out. If they had a report of a previous neck injury it would have hurt your case.

There were a LOT of false statements in my records. It was a Residency program I was going to and it looked like they were trying to make themselves look better in the reports, rather than stating the actual facts? In several instances I asked for a particular test or treatment and they turned it around and said they suggested it.

[mushroom]

There were a LOT of false statements in my records. It was a Residency program I was going to and it looked like they were trying to make themselves look better in the reports, rather than stating the actual facts? In several instances I asked for a particular test or treatment and they turned it around and said they suggested it.

And all that is before they flat out change your records when you request a copy of them That's why you always get the records BEFORE they know there's a problem with the Rx And why the attorneys send someone with a copier to the office to copy the records themselves so the records are not redacted (and they don't accidentally 'forget' to copy a page)

Everyone swears that the medical records can't be wrong, but we know better. They are seldom right. And they conveniently leave out anything adverse to the provider, any little misadventures, etc. that reflect on their Rx of you or, as you say, twist it around to take credit for the idea.