Thursday, November 15, 2007

Having Confidence in your Doctor

It didn't take me long after talking with my third opinion doctor to decide he was the one that was going to make a difference in my course of treatment. I realized after we had only spoken for a short time, that I adored him, trusted him, and was ready to put my future in his hands. As the weeks since speaking with him has gone by, the more certain I feel he is the right choice.

Last week I called his office to ask them for an order for my EEG and MRI for December. I left a message and also told them I had some questions and would like them to call me on them. The next day I received a call from the head clinician and he left me his direct number. I called him back and told him what I needed from his office and that I had some questions typed out for the doctor. He gave me his email address so I could send them to him directly. He told me that the doctor would be out of the country until Wednesday but that'd he'd get back to me.

Well, last night I had a message on my voice mail. It wasn't from a nurse. It wasn't from an intern. It was from my doctor himself. I was nearly floored because I have only talked to a doctor on the phone once in my 28 years of life. Usually you get the nurse!!! Anyway, he gave me his direct number and asked me to call him back to discuss my questions.

I called him back this afternoon and he had told the receptionist that if I called, have him paged. Again it floored me to have a doctor care this much. I wish I could say that the conversation continued on that note but he confirmed so many of my suspicions, I am still not sure what road to take. However, that's not for this entry. In what I was hoping was going to help clear things up, I am now more confused than ever. The fact I do trust this doctor makes it even harder.

1 comment:

  1. Hello.. I've just stumbled onto your blog & spent the last.. well.. couple of hours, I guess, reading up on you.

    This post made me laugh because I had the same reaction the first time my fertility doctor called me.

    It was an odd situation because I'd spent a week trying to get some (very simple) test results & not had much luck. I was getting very frustrated.

    Next thing I knew, the doctor HERSELF called me to apologize.

    Now, I'd not really blamed the doctor, but the office. Instead, she told me that she had gotten the messages but had neglected them. She then promised it would never happen again.

    I was surprised that it was her on the phone, but thought that was a special circumstance because the week had gone so badly.

    To my surprise, the next week when I was expecting more test results, I left a message for the nurse, and the nurse called me back and gave me the answers.
    I was fine.

    An hour later, the phone rang again & it was the doctor- AGAIN. She understood I'd called for my test results. "Yes." I said, " but your nurse has already called with those."

    She said she understood that but wanted to know if I had any questions.


    I think I sat in silence for a full minute.

    It's funny... when you really think about it, why SHOULDN'T the doctor call you with your questions? But it just doesn't happen. And when it does, wow..

    This same doctor gave a friend of mine her personal cell phone # because she was going to be between offices for a month.

    My friend called and said "You're not going to BELIEVE this!"

    That's just how she is.

    Hang on to that one. A doctor who actually cares.

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