Have you ever switched surgeons?

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Afraidforfour
Afraidforfour Member Posts: 11
edited January 2016 in Surgery - Before, During, and After

hello. I am new to this. It was suggested to me by a veteran poster to ask my question here. I was referred to a senior surgeon in a practice. As I took the first appointment available I got the junior member. This was not a concern as I had been told my Pagets Disease diagnosis was "superficial" . Well, it is not that. As I find I need more and maybe more issues Addressed I think I'd like to be with the more experienced doctor. Is that possible? how would I go about doing that? I just did not feel comfortable after meeting this one he seemed pretty callous and kind of sloppy. That makes me nervous. Any advice appreciated. Ty!

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  • besa
    besa Member Posts: 1,088
    edited January 2016

    Of course it is possible to switch surgeons. Patients switch doctors all the time. Absolutely fire doctor wrong and hire doctor right. If you want to stay in the same practice and are concerned about politics you might say something like you just don't feel the first doctor "X" is a "good fit" for you and you want an appointment with Doctor "Y". A very helpful physician friend once told me when I was dealing with a difficult physician "you are a consumer as well as a patient" - find someone who works for you.

    I found the easy to read paperback book below to be very helpful.

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Empowered-Patient-Diagno...

    "The Empowered Patient" by Elizabeth Cohen (Cohen is a CNN senior medical correspondent)

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  • Afraidforfour
    Afraidforfour Member Posts: 11
    edited January 2016

    thank you Besa. such good advice. I guess we are all consumers shopping in a medical world! Good way of looking at it and that gives me the confidence to speak up. I think I am getting into a long battle. The storie s on here help me rally to face it. So glad I found you all. I will look for the book. Much appreciated.

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  • pennsygal
    pennsygal Member Posts: 346
    edited January 2016

    I did, and the PAs assured me it happens all the time. You have to feel that the doc is "right" for you, and it sounds like this one isn't. Please trust your gut reaction. I used the "good fit" reasoning and they didn't bat an eye.

    Bonus: many surgeons are have such huge egos that this type of thing does not register with them!!

    Best of luck.

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  • Afraidforfour
    Afraidforfour Member Posts: 11
    edited January 2016

    lol..I think your right. Definitely the ego was there...and was going to cause problems with my husband. I took your advice and the " not the right fit" did work like a charm. My new surgeon called me personally, was direct, professional and positive. The best news was she did not have a barking dog watch repeatedly going off and checkedwhile delivering my diagnosis. That was a real red flag with the first one. All I could think of was....would that thing go off during my surgery and distract him?

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  • Hopeful82014
    Hopeful82014 Member Posts: 3,480
    edited January 2016
    I interviewed 3 before settling on the last one - and she was a gem! I'm god you seem to have found one you like, too. it's vital.
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  • glennie19
    glennie19 Member Posts: 6,398
    edited January 2016

    I'm so glad you got good advice here and found a new surgeon!

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