I'm switching doc's

jennyboog

It's official...I'm asking for a referal for another dr.  We're in the Army and I'm seen on base and love my onc but she is leaving for another assignment in a few weeks.  The onc dept there is not user friendly at all and I'm sick of it.  I saw my onc on Monday and she switched my AI's so the nurse said they'll be ready Thurs.  I just drove 1hr to get there, parked 1 mile away and guess what...they're not ready until 1pm.  I'm so frusterated with this place, I'm really not trying to be a spoiled brat but this is not the first time something like this has happened, it's something all the time.  For example, if I have a dr appt lets say around 10:30am and get done with her by 11:30am they make me come back at 1pm just to have my port flushed.  They have these time lines that they use to do this or that, I just think they could be a little more flexible with patients.  I'm not asking for special tx. just b/c I have cancer but think of the patient instead of yourself.  I came from another Army hospital where I started tx and they were super flexible and I could stop by anytime for whatever.  I'll be switching to a civilian practice...is this the way it is other places or am I the one being difficult?

anonymice

Jennifer, at my place you go in to one treatment room and the different docs come see *you*.   I'm sure your actual cancer treatment is on par with private practices but they obviously don't give a rat's rear about your emotional state or making your life easier in any way.  Definitely not a mistake to go to a civilian practice, IMO!

americanpinay

Hi Jenny,

I belong to an HMO and, while I am very happy with my primary care doctor and my onc, I also had some frustrating moments with the rest of the medical team. Like you, I have had to do multiple visits in one day or had to wait after lunch to get blood drawn. I know, other people probably think of them as "small stuff" but when you are feeling yucky from treatments or just from having a cancer diagnosis, the "inconvenience" is magnified.

Good luck with your search for a new onc and medical team. Take care always.

elmcity69

in my opinion, jenny, this practice is totally unreasonable and hardly patient-centered. they make you return for a port flushing 90 minutes AFTER your appt is done? total crap. my onc nurse flushes it when i'm done, and that's that.

i think it sounds as if it will be a good switch to try this civilian practice. you deserve better.