Complacent Non-Caring Doctors!!

somanywomen
somanywomen Member Posts: 872
edited June 2014 in Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment

How do we find a good doctor these days?...Since I was only seeing Nurse Practitioner every year for Pap and scheduling of mammo which landed me here about 5 months ago...Now that I have a surgeon, I have an Onco doc, finished rads so no longer need Rad doc...I have been asking just about everyone for a recommendation for a really good GYN...Finally made an appt with one that was highly praised....Was to have first consultation today, when about an hour before my appt., her assistant called and asked what exactly was I coming in for...I said that I was looking for a new GYN and had wanted to discuss the last few months of happenings and hoping to find a doctor to help me stay on top of things gynecologically since being dx with breast cancer...I have questions about a lot of things and wanted a consultation...The assistant said, well if you have breast cancer we would refer you out!!!...I said that I just wanted a doctor for regular exams but one who also took into consideration of my bc...The assistant told me that this GYN was not that kind of doctor (what GYN's don't have patients with bc!!)...They tell me this one hour before appt., I told her that I was sure that this doctor, having so little confidence in herself as not even to consult with me was surely not the doctor that I had been looking for....Does having bc scare some doctors away or what???

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  • Sassa
    Sassa Member Posts: 1,588
    edited February 2010

    I don't understand the assistant's statements.  My female PCP was doing my yearly PAP smears.  She left the practice and her male partner referred me to a GYN for the PAP smear and yearly check.

    I saw the GYN for the first time last year.  My history of BC was an important part of my history to her; she insisted on doing a breast exam on my bilateral mastectomy scars (looking for any abnormalities).

    She also told me she would looked at some pelvic ultrasounds I had done (per my female PCP) and would get back to me if she had the smallest problem with the reports.

    Maybe the assistant is confused and thinks you have cancer in the reproductive organs. 

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  • idaho
    idaho Member Posts: 1,187
    edited February 2010

    Did you make it clear that you are a breast cancer SURVIVOR?  Did she think you currently have breast cancer?   Just a thought.   Tami

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  • somanywomen
    somanywomen Member Posts: 872
    edited February 2010

    Both of you have very good points and had she actually had the courtesy to have talked to me with my initial consultation appt yesterday that I had made over 3 weeks ago, instead of through her office assitant we may have got it straight...I told her assistant that I had been dx with bc and had lumpectomy and rads and now wanted a good doctor to help me stay on top of my GYN concerns..It was like they were trying to tell me that she was not the doctor to follow up on these, mind you I have no concerns at this time and have had regular clean paps for years..I am thinking I may call thier office so named "Partners In Women's Health" and ask to speak to someone on what I feel is discrimination...to women that have had bc.....I don't know, it just doesn't make any sense to me either.....

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  • Kitchenwitch
    Kitchenwitch Member Posts: 374
    edited February 2010

    I'm sorry you had this experience. It's amazing how many doctors and doctors' practices can be so uncaring about less-than-optimal health. Like, "oh! You're sick! Well, we can't handle that." Seems like the doctor's assistant was a lot more focused on their own practice and what they can handle ("we'd refer you out... We're not that kind of practice") rather than just asking you about YOU. I mean just because you've had BC doesn't mean you don't still need routine care (and some respect while getting).

    If it were me I'd take it as a lucky sign that I was able to avoid going to such a practice. I know it's disappointing when they were highly recommended but now you get to find a doctor who really will take care of you and help you coordinate things. And if you want you can add your experience to the recommendations so people will have another view of this practice.

    Incidentally in my own (and my family's) medical travels I've found the best indicator is a doctor who LISTENS patiently. When they cut you off and start telling you about them... it's almost never good. I had a very very troubled first pregnancy. Second pregnancy I went to a diff. doc who was the best listener ever. Very patient and curious. Things went as well as could be and I had a full-term baby with no problems at all. Completely due to how second doc handled things. 

    Best of luck finding the right OBGYN. (I'm sure he/she is out there.)

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  • roseg
    roseg Member Posts: 3,133
    edited February 2010

    The PA sounds like someone who is annoying.

    I think better to say you're looking for a new GYN for "well women" exams and not go into any more detail than that. Your medical situation is between you and the Doc. If he/she doesn't see women who happen to have had breast cancer left them tell you themselves. 

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  • somanywomen
    somanywomen Member Posts: 872
    edited February 2010

    Thanks to all,,,,I did call the main office of this group yesterday to discuss the ethics/discrimination involved in this....The person I spoke to was very surprised by this and said she would have a chance to talk to the doctor on Monday to see if there had been some kind of misunderstanding, said she would get back to me by Tuesday with answer...This Doctor's group is highly affiliated with one of our local hospitals which I go for tests, etc.,  I said I would wait until Tuesday before I spoke with a hospital rep about this...I am hoping it is one big misunderstanding, but regardless, this group of doctors will never be included in any part of my life...

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  • ginger2345
    ginger2345 Member Posts: 517
    edited March 2010

    I think you may have been talking to an "assistant" who was not thoroughly knowledgable. I can't imagine a GYN not seeing you for gyn stuff and though they're not experts on bc, they should be able to follow you once your bc treatment has ended.

    Good luck getting the answers you need about this situation.

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  • somanywomen
    somanywomen Member Posts: 872
    edited March 2010
    ginger, the Group Manager did get to the bottom and called me with an apology for the unprofessional way this was handled...She said that the doctor's appointment setter had no medical knowledge and thought that I was looking for breast cancer doc...Even though I made this very clear that I was looking for GYN to follow up with knowledge that I had had bc...The manager talked with the doctor to let her know that she should educate her office personel and have them ask the right questions before having them call me an hour before my appt to find out why I was coming for consultant...She also mentioned that she thought the docter herself should have called me at that point for futher information..She said this experience has led her to a change thier protocol of who and what questions for the appt workers to ask new patients and not jump to conclusions as they did...I thanked her for her follow through, I knew something just wasn't right...Since, I have made appt with another GYN and maybe that is just karma and she might be great, I hope so.....
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  • hipchik47
    hipchik47 Member Posts: 268
    edited March 2010

    So, was the PA trying to screen u to see if u were really coming to the dr for a reason or just waste her time.  This is outragious!!  I think the Dr is the one who required her PA to do this "screening" and she is the one at fault.  The PA seems like a twit to me too, but its the dr who is telling her what to do. 

      When I was 26 I was pregnant with my first daughter,  I went to a highly regarded OB-GYN.  He was a drip from the beginning, but I was young and afraid of him.  In the labor room I was crying in pain and the dr said to me "You have not cooperated with me since  the beginning so why should I think u would cooperate now".  Soooooooooooooooooooooo  My hubby grabbed him by the neck and threw him up against the wall and said "You do the cooperating now u jerk".  And he did. Hubby would prolly get jail time if this happened now.  Since then I have met very few doctors I  like!!

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  • somanywomen
    somanywomen Member Posts: 872
    edited March 2010

    hipchik...I think that this was a matter of a very unqualified appt maker and a doctor that should have picked up the phone and at least talked to me since I was dressed and almost out the door to come see her when she had the office girl call, but at least the Group manager did follow through for me and called me about three times until she got it straight and really was sincere when she apologized to me.....

    If we only had someone like your husband with us to protect us against some of the self-centered doctors out there....Where are all the great Doctors??...I like my Surgeon and my Onco doc, but I truly wonder if they care little more than the dollars that they have/going to make...Tomorrow, I have to go fight my Rad doc for billing my insurance a $30 office visit charge for each of my rad treatments (30 x $30 =$900)..doesn't even count against my deductible...My Ins co says that the doc billed these treatments as if they came from her office instead of the Cancer Center where I had the treatments....My Rad doc was on vacation about 2 of my weeks of rads and during the 30 rads I saw her twice!!!...

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