[nonightowl]

Payne, as far as surgeons treating you like dirt, I remember when they didn't know yet if something was benign. Remote chance it wasn't, so I asked one of them am I going to die. He said, "We all die." Real sensitive.

"Dear Doctor:

Thank you for telling me, literally, at the last minute that someone needs to be with me for 6 hours due to possible residual effects of the sedation. People have lives, most do anyway. 5 pages of instructions, and this important piece of info isn't on there! You're so h*** bent on being sure someone will drive me home, even going so far as to call that person first. But you don't say what happens afterwards.

Just as I am waking up, you tell me this? Threw both of us (me & my friend) for a loop. Good thing he works at home, so I was able to hang out there. But what if he had to go to the office? He'd have to just drop me off and let the chips fall where they may. You'd be none the wiser, since I didn't sign any forms saying I will be with someone. If my friend couldn't pick me up, there would have been awkward moments with an acquaintance. But she had to go to work, so she'd have to just drop me off.

Don't you realize the imposition of having someone drive you in the first place? People need to take time off and know well in advance if you want them to hang around me. Everyone doesn't have a large support network of 50 friends and relatives, ready to drop their busy lives for you.

If you have nurses returning calls, can you be sure they are not b*****?

Frustrated Patient"

"Dear Pharmacist:

Don't just read the label outloud to me and consider that a "consultation." I can read. Give me time to ask questions, instead of rushing me off so you can get to the next "consultation."

Pissed"

"Dear Kaiser,

What is with pushing your website? Don't want any more human or personal contact with your "members." E-mail your doctor, refill prescriptions, view lab results. Geez, you don't need people anymore in your call centers then. Or in your "member services", which don't know squat anyway. Pretty soon, it will be just online, online, online, and I'm sure some people will get lost on the site & just give up. I bet you'd like that, since it'll save you money. Less people to treat.

Disheartened"

Seems I can never use this emoticon enough on this topic anyway:

[BrokenNBeautiful]

You are the 4th ER doctor in a row who never examined my home challenged friend's foot and it's infected.

Social worker, nurse, whoever, thank you for not keeping me and Bruce posted on how he was doing and letting us worry ourselves SICK about him, then when we call, for telling us "i can't tell you where he is or how he's doing or what we are doing to him".

The whole system: Why can't you just stop all the cr*p and beaurocracy and help this man instead of leaving me and Bruce to do everything ourselves?!

Billi

[BrokenNBeautiful]

Tell us what the (cuss word) is wrong with John! (home challenged friend).

B.

[Travelinglady]

Dear doctors:

I wish you would be honest with me about not wanting to prescribe me any narcotic drugs, if I need them in the future. One of you said only primary care doctors can do that now, and the other one of you said primary care docs can't do it because of the legal issues. Hmmm.

Well, I called my pharmacist, and she said any of you CAN prescribe such drugs. Liars!

Sincerely,

Your perturbed patient

P.S. At least one doc I talked to said she didn't prescribe such drugs because she didn't feel comfortable doing so! At least she told me the truth!

[nonightowl]

Originally Posted by PAYNE1

Dear doctors:

I wish you would be honest with me about not wanting to prescribe me any narcotic drugs, if I need them in the future. One of you said only primary care doctors can do that now, and the other one of you said primary care docs can't do it because of the legal issues. Hmmm.

Well, I called my pharmacist, and she said any of you CAN prescribe such drugs. Liars!

Sincerely,

Your perturbed patient

P.S. At least one doc I talked to said she didn't prescribe such drugs because she didn't feel comfortable doing so! At least she told me the truth!

I had a doctor who didn't want to prescribe something to me and she said she wasn't comfortable doing it. She replaced my previous doctor, who had retired and wrote the original prescription. However, my PRIMARY doctor was willing; I merely asked and she gave it to me!

I want to say that I didn't mean to insult anyone who does have difficulty reading or is visually impaired, when I said "I can read". (My note to pharmacist in an earlier post) But the pharmacist should point out stuff the average patient may not see. And give you time to talk with him/her, not just put the stuff and receipt in a bag.

"Dear Pharmacist:

You told me to add the flavor packet after the water, then shake it. I didn't discover the manufacturer's instructions till everything was all over. It was on a label UNDERNEATH the obvious, with the tiny phrase "Peel here" in the corner. I didn't even see that! The manufacturer strongly says to add the powder flavor packet to the active ingredient powder FIRST, THEN add water and shake it! It's only for flavor, and it might not have made a big difference. But then again, maybe it would have. You should have noticed the label on the bottle from the manufacturer, that it has separate instructions. Isn't this what you get paid the big bucks to do?????

And why the Kaiser monograph, which often has conflicting instructions to what the doctor says? AND, the manufacturer? It's all so confusing. Can't you consolidate all this stuff, or tell the patient what to ignore and what to follow????

Healthy Skeptic Patient"

[yellowted]

dear doctor,

which cerial box did you get your doctors certificate out of?

why do you say there is nothing you can do to help me lose the 10 stone i need to lose until I start walking when nothing is being done to help me walk and all articles i have read say i am unlikely ever to walk again!

why do you always insist there is nothing wrong until i have told you the same thing on a minimum of three seperate visits?

what do you get out of making me insist for over a year for every test you have ever 'requested'

why when there is a big poster in your waiting area stating your patients need to tell you if they have blood in their stools do you do absolutely nothing about it when they do tell you?

how do you expect me to know when i am going to be ill and book an appointment three weeks before i am ill?

What is the reason for making me travel to the surgery to request and then travel to the surgery again five days later to collect a repeat prescription which i have been getting every month for decades, have you not heard of phone or email requests or pharmacy collection services??? it is sick making a person who is dependent on carers and a wheelchair go through this every month, and sicker still not letting my carer do it for me with a permission note or phone call from me!

and you have the audasity to say i am the mentally ill one!

next letter

Dear doctor,
after years of putting up with your inappropriate / lack of care and beurocratic rules i have had enough. I am now seeking the support of a new person centred surgery, you know, the one you refused to move to. was this because you knew you were so un person centerd that you would be found out to be the crappest doctor in borough if you had moved there?

I no longer will be fobbed off with being laughed at and told there is nothing wrong or being asked am i sure when i say and know things aren't right.
the new surgery accepts telephone requests and pharmacy collections for repeat prescriptions saving me loads of stress and time.
they understand disability and mental health and realise that my weight is a problem which needs treating whether i can walk or not, oh and the blood in my stools is finally being taken seriously too.

so bang goes the cash you get from government for having me on your records, it is finally going to go to someone who deserves it and is not shy on spending some of it on actually helping the patients instead of spending it on locums so they can go on their eigth holiday this year.

[kitty004567]

Dear nurse,
When I called to report I was raped, thank you so much for the compassion (NOT!). Thank you for asking if I had called the police and responding with a derogatory comment when I said no. But most of all, thank you for asking if, since I was raped without condom use if I needed plan B - which you also did not do.

Dear doctor,
When I came to see you for my exam after the rape thank you for your lack of compassion. Thank you for echoing your nurses' disgust that I did not file a police report (the guy and I had a history... it would have been next to impossible to prosecute and I didn't want to go through the ordeal - I want to move on). Truly thank you for ordering the complete STD panel I asked for. Unfortunately, you failed to mention that the protocol for testing for AIDS exposure is immediate testing, 3, 6, and 12 months. I'm so glad you're looking after my best interests. In fact, there was no talk at all about follow up testing to make sure I'm safe. But thank you very much for ordering additional blood work and hauling me back into your office to accuse me of eating "too much red meat" because my triglicerides (and NOTHING else) are out of whack... for the first time in 10 years of getting CBCs done every 6 months. By the way, I don't eat red meat so you accuse me of drinking too much. I came home, I did my research... in all likelihood the results are due to me being overweight for which YOU have prescribed and are "monitoring" a diet. I'm pretty sure you're not going to be my doctor for that much longer. BTW, the allergy medicine you prescribed makes my allergies worse, not better.

[nonightowl]

"Dear Doctor,

It is helpful to send a letter to women having mammograms that they might want to avoid caffeine two weeks before their appointment. For some, the caffeine makes the tenderness worse.

It is not helpful to send it out so late that she gets it 3 days before the appointment, therefore making it impossible to "stop caffeine for 2 weeks". (Unless she wants to reschedule, and most want to get it over with.)

Clever Patient"

[Travelinglady]

I've even gotten letters from doctors about issues such as how to get to their offices AFTER my appointment. And I know of a lady who was supposed to stop a blood-thinning med a week or more before surgery and she got THAT letter the day before. Evidently these folks don't know how the mail system works. "Snail mail" is certainly an appropriate name!

Dear Doctor,

Thank you for refusing to refer me tests after visiting you 7 times about the same problem. Thank you for enjoying the power you have over me and leaving me to suffer. Thank you for making me absolutely DREAD visiting the doctors and loose any shred of faith i had left for people in your profession.

See you in hell a$$hole

[lizardlady]

I'm going to take a different approach. I have an absolutely fantastic pdoc. So here goes...

Dear Dr. S
Thank you for treating me like a human being.
Thank you for listening to me.
Thank you for being willing to answer questions.
Me

[BrokenNBeautiful]

Originally Posted by nonightowl

"Dear Doctor,

It is helpful to send a letter to women having mammograms that they might want to avoid caffeine two weeks before their appointment. For some, the caffeine makes the tenderness worse.

It is not helpful to send it out so late that she gets it 3 days before the appointment, therefore making it impossible to "stop caffeine for 2 weeks". (Unless she wants to reschedule, and most want to get it over with.)

Clever Patient"

Nightowl, this reminds me of when my roommate Bruce was going to go for his coloscopy. they told him to fast the night before and he can't. He has a metabolic disorder and he can't go without food that long. Guess what? They told him, after his consult appt.: "Mr. B., be sure to fast tonight."

G*d, he was p*ssed. He had to cancel it!

Billi

[BrokenNBeautiful]

Originally Posted by PAYNE1

I've even gotten letters from doctors about issues such as how to get to their offices AFTER my appointment. And I know of a lady who was supposed to stop a blood-thinning med a week or more before surgery and she got THAT letter the day before. Evidently these folks don't know how the mail system works. "Snail mail" is certainly an appropriate name!

Yep, they tell you LATER.

Wow.

B.

[jbug]

Dear Doctor,

Just because I am on an anti psychotic does not mean I have schizophrenia can you please take this out of my notes? Yes I know I should not have been poking around in them while you were out of the room but when I saw this I got mad and now that I can look my records up online and all the doctor's in the system can see everything about me they think that too. Please take it or at least get with my pdoc and get what my real diagnoses are.

Just sayin'

[nonightowl]

"Dear Doctor/Nurse/Assistant:

Health "care" should be both body and soul, or body and mind. Get to know your patients and their lives. Don't assume they have a job, a close family (emotionally or geographically), a significant other, a roommate, a pet, or any other various types of support network, be it financial or emotional. Many people do not.

Wake up and smell the coffee. It is hard enough to go to a doctor as it is, it's not to say, "Hey" but because people have an ailment that doesn't go away or respond to home treatment. Don't assume the long wait time wasn't long for the patient or that they have ALL day to sit in your (usually) uncomfortable waiting room. Too cold or too hot, uncomfortable chairs, barren walls, etc. People may not have planned for it, by making allowances in their schedule....Inform patients of the approximate wait and the reason the wait is so long. Just because people are not doctors doesn't mean their time isn't important. There's also traffic, parking, etc. to deal with.

Invisible Patient" (I'd use the banging head one again, but the window won't open for some reason, another reason to bang my head.)

[BrokenNBeautiful]

Dear Doctor:

Because you told me that you could not do anything for my neuralgia, I got scared to go anywhere else.

don't ever tell a patient she's hopeless. Refer her to someone who can deal with her problem! Or at least say, "I dont' know. " don't act like she's bothering you. This will make her feel like not trustng doctors anymore; she's maybe been to so many who write her off. Then if she has a medical problem that either has to be treated cause its life threatening or a problem that CAN be treated she can come in and get treated! Esp without feeling so guilty about wasting your time!

Billi

Dear Doctor,

Thank you for being so thorough and taking so much time with me a couple of weeks ago. You are always so good about explaining everything you are doing before you do it so I feel as comfortable as I can under the circumstances. Thank you for taking my symptoms seriously and getting me a quick referral for testing.

Dear Pediatrician:

You have treated my sons for 23 years. I have never known a doctor to take so much time and pay so much attention even on the routine issues and yearly checkups. I absolutely love how you speak TO my sons instead of only to the adult in the room. They love you for that. Nothing like kids that look forward to having visits to their doctor. I swear they'll do things for you that they won't do for us. Please don't retire quite yet. Let our youngest graduate first, okay?

[yellowted]

Dear Doctor,
I repeatedly told you there was something wrong, that I was bleeding when deficating, but due to your neglect or inability to recognise that a person can have more than one thing wrong with them, and that the patient knows their own body best, a pre cancerous polip was allowed to grow inside me to a size of 4cm. this now means i now have been classified as having a high chance of cancer in the future. Thanks.
the polip has successfully been removed only because i persistantly insisted on the colonoscopy.
next time a patient tells you they are bleeding, LISTEN to them and ACT ON IT, else you WILL end up being SUED.

[ECHOES]

I wish I could afford your services.

[Perna]

I wish we could get to know one another better, have real conversations so you would know me if you ran over me on the street.

Dear Doctors C, G-L and F, (psychiatrists)

Thank you for not taking the time to do a thorough assessment and misdiagnosing me with a personality disorder. The three of you have misinterpreted my situation and behaviour. As attending psychiatrists you have failed to listen to the opinions of other doctors and residents, who felt my problems were due to a neurodevelopmental disorder.

The medications you have prescribed affected my thinking and behaviour. Suddenly, all I could think of was suicide and self injury. (I only did this on pills.) You all denied it was due to this. I tried to tell you it was, but you never listened. Everything, I said was minimized and/or ignored or blamed on acting out. Once, I stopped the pills, this all stopped.

You were all so confident with the diagnosis, that it blinded and excused your lack of ethics. All of you shaped me into that diagnosis, because I was a woman, that you could not explain. Rather than exploring, you just assumed. You all said, that I was abused (This was not true), because you failed to recognize my sensory processing problems.

Your errors have prevented access to fair and appropriate care, when I needed it, most.

Thank you for "I will prescribe regimens for the [harm] of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and [will] do harm to anyone."

I was left psychologically traumatized.

Dear Doctors M and W,

Thank you for listening and showing me that healthcare professionals can be trusted. Thank you for helping me heal and recover from all the mistreatment, that I have had to endure. Thank you for believing and supporting me. Thank you for allowing me to read my medical records. Thank you for showing me, that there are some good doctors in the world.

Thank you for correctly diagnosing me. It was liberating and validating.

Both of you always take the time to explain, when you do not have to. You also treat me like a colleague and an equal, by showing respect and encouraging discussion, questioning, and debate. It is nice to have the ability to contest, without being accused of recalcitrance.

You see me for who I really am. I really appreciate that. The two of you have made a profound difference in my life.

Thank you,

Didgee, a psychiatric survivor

[BatsAndButterflies]

Dear Doctor,

I've talked to you twice now about my hands hurting. Both times you have said there is nothing wrong with them. If there is nothing wrong with them, then why have they been like this for the past 8 years. Random pain shoots through them when I'm NOT doing anything with them. Yet you say it's just from using them too much. I know I use them too much, but they hurt when I'm doing nothing. I think it's an overuse injury. MAKE THEM STOP HURTING ME!

BLAH!

[misscath007]

Dear Doctor,

I know you are busy but would you please take the time to call me back when I have questions that need to be answered? I usually end up speaking to your nurse, which is fine but every time I have a new question I have to ask her and then she needs to speak to you & then call me back. It would be easier if I could just speak to you directly. Unless you just don't give a d***.

[nonightowl]

This seems like a good place to vent, even though the thread hasn't been active lately. It's still open.

"Dear Health Insurance Plan,

You SUCK. Thank you for hanging on to my roughly $500 when I ended up not owing any co-payment, for about 6 months when I could have used that money. Your plan says I have to pay for outpatient procedures until I meet my deductible.

I paid the approx $500 the day of the procedure, back in MAY. I was told I would get billed for the rest. I called 3 times, talking to 3 different people, and getting 3 different answers, as to why it was taking so long to finalize the billing. You'd think your employees would know their plans? You PAY them to be on the phone all day, "helping" members.

So, I'm sitting on "pins and needles" for nothing. I got duplicate statements and statements showing I paid $500, which I'm painfully aware of. Nothing about anything due. I was pretty sure if I owed anything, you wouldn't drag your heels on it. One of your reps gave me a $ figure, saying I'd be billed. Another said "It would probably zero out."

I get a surprise refund check of my $500 last week. Certainly not going to question it, but it said on the stub "no co-pay required." Then, why did you ask for it in the first place??? I had to make a special trip to the bank for that. Also spend a lot of time on the phone getting "answers" from your reps. Both the bank trip and phone calls wasted my time & energy. Wasted your rep's time and energy too, but I don't care about that. They get paid, and your pockets are deep enough--with what you charge for everything (except for flu shots, the only thing I don't have to pay for).

Thank you for causing me unnecessary stress. We all need that.

Very Dissatisfied Member."

[yellowted]

dear doctor, you can stuff your ignorant uncaring attitude and unprofessional lazy staff where the sun don't shine. i am off to another surgery. one that cares about its patients, one that listens and acts upon what is said, without laughing at or doubing their patients. one who uses the money they receive actually on their patients giving them the best care possible and not leaving them to risk cancer or who will not help overweight patients to lose the excess pounds or dump truck load in my case, so next month when the money you receive is down, you will know that you only have your own attitude and incompitence to blame