He's at a big medical practice, but even though he is my doctor, I can choose to see other doctors instead, so that is what I have been doing for the past six months, and will continue to do until he's gone. About a year ago, some guys in The Porch were talking about Sleep Apnea, and I thought I had a lot of the same symptoms. I asked him to refer me for tests, and he initially dismissed my request, but I insisted very assertively. It turned out that I did have Sleep Apnea, and was stopping breathing 25 times an hour. The consultant I saw wrote to him to ask him to refer me to a rheumatologist as she thought I might also have fibromyalgia. His reaction to this letter from this younger, female, and better qualified doctor ("Who the h**l does she think she is?!") was the last straw for me. Unfortunately, he is the senior doctor at the practice, and had noted on my medical file that I was NOT to be referred to a specialist, so the less senior doctor I saw was reluctant to go against him, but I insisted they referred me. As a result of that, I was diagnosed with a number of other medical conditions, in addition to ones my doctor had previously ignored, and getting a lot of help that I should have been getting years ago. Unfortunately, this specialist care has come too late in some instances, or at least I have suffered for years because of my doctor's complacency. For example, I have a number of foot problems, including broken metartarsels in both feet, planter fasciitis, arthritis, pronation, bursitis, etc. The foot pain was so bad a few years back that I could barely walk, which meant I had to pass on the renewal of two walking guides I had written in the 90's, and obviously it made life difficult for me in lots of respects. I also suffered two tendon injuries seven or eight years ago, which was a serious disability. Combined with the foot problems, it led to me gaining weight, as it was difficult for me to exercise. The tennis elbow was agonising, but my doctor just told me rubbish about it. Now, after all these years, I'm seeing foot specialists who are helping with the first problem, and getting treatment and physiotherapy for the tennis elbow, but it's really come too late for that. And the quack who has sat there shrugging his shoulders every time I've seen him for the last 15 years doesn't even use the same health service as the rest of us here
Anyway guys, thanks for your concern and support, but we should get back to talking about our good Lambsfoot knives rather than about my bad feet!
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Totally not cool
What the H@@l in this day and age! This sounds more like the Doctors in the 50"s They ruined my Mother by prescribing Valium over and over until she was addicted big time. Let's hope you find a young aggressive DR that's not in it just for the money.
Can you not change family Doctors?
