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Old Thu, Jul-17-03, 17:22
Lisa N's Avatar
Lisa N Lisa N is offline
Posts: 12,028
 
Plan: Bernstein Diabetes Soluti
Stats: 260/-/145 Female 5' 3"
BF:
Progress: 63%
Location: Michigan
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Unfortunately, we have to be our own advocates and the adage of "let the buyer beware" applies to physicians these days as well.
I also had a very bad experience with a large group of doctors when my oldest daughter was very young. She had 13 ear infections between the ages of 1 and 3 and I still had to literally have a tantrum in the doctors office one day to get them to refer her to a ear specialist and that after she had the same ear infection for a month and had already been on 3 different antibiotics (they were proposing putting her on a 4th). Nobody picked it up because she was seeing a different doctor every time we came in and none of them were bothering to read her chart. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. By the time that we saw the specialist he informed us after performing several hearing tests that she had a 50% hearing loss in both ears that may or may not be reversible. We had tubes placed in her ears and had her hearing checked again. She was diagnosed with permanent hearing damage; not 50% but enough so that she never heard a bird sing until she was 5 and that "permanent" damage somehow reversed itself (doc still can't explain how) after having her second set of tubes placed. It delayed her starting school by a year because her speach had not yet developed to be understandable by anyone but close family members (a result of the early hearing loss). At the age of 3, she literally had to re-learn how to pronounce words all over again because up until that point she had been talking like she was hearing.
Moral of the story? If you're not happy with the care you are receiving or how you are being treated by your current doctor, find another one and don't wait until the one you are currently seeing does something (or doesn't do something) that causes irreversible harm. You are the patient, but you are also a customer paying for a service. If you aren't satisfied with the services you are receiving, talk with your feet by leaving. Learn at least a little something about the condition(s) that you have and what is and is not considered appropriate treatment for it.
Doctors hate having their opinions and judgment questioned, but the bottom line is that it's your health on the line, not theirs.
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