NOT my new surgeon

Yes, this is a rant, and yes, it's gonna be long. Feel free to ignore. :o)

I've posted before that I'm due for a new generator and lead. My old surgeon retired. I went to meet the one my doctor recommended today. Oh. My. Gawd. I'm a very calm and patient person, but I was soooo ready to tell this guy off!!! It took everything I had to politely walk out.

After letting me sit there for two hours and having to explain to his nurse what a congenital complete heart block is, he finally came in. Starts talking about what brand he's going to give me. St Judes, not negotiable, it's all over the notes from my dr. He seemed annoyed that I had an opinion so we didn't exactly get off on the right foot. Then he seemed annoyed that it is buried and not where "it's supposed to be". The whole reason my doctor sent me to him is because he's supposedly done submammary before.

So! He starts poking around, trying to find it. It is very buried, you cannot feel it from poking. Then he tugs on the edge of my top and says "this has to come off so I can see". Crappy manners and no nurse in the room, but whatever, so I took it off. Then he unhooked my bra!!!!!!!!! He wanted to see the old incision, like he didn't believe me that it was on the side. THEN, his phone rang so he stepped out AND OPENED THE DOOR!!!!! I was sitting right in front of the door, close enough that I could reach out and touch it. Thank god I hadn't let go of my top.

He came back in and showed me where he's going to go in from the top. I said, no my others have been done from the side. He says, well I have to do it from the top. I said, well, it's been done from the side three times, WHY do you have to do it differently? No answer.

And it just gets better (very best infomercial voice). Next I asked, if you're doing it from the top, how are you going to run the new lead? And .... drum roll please.... he says "What new lead?" I realized he had no idea I needed another lead, that he had not so much as looked at my chart.

Can you say no way in hell is that guy getting near me with a knife and anesthesia?! I don't trust him to follow my requests, I don't think I even trust him to read my chart first so he knows what to do.

I called my cardio before I was even out the door, totally livid. He hasn't called me back yet so you can bet I'll be on his case first thing in the am. I'm starting to feel the crunch, I've been in ERI since mid-December and the bad lead is killing the battery quickly so I can't count on 90 days, so I really really need to get this done, and soon!

16 Comments

Find another surgeon

by admin - 2010-01-19 09:01:01

Tracey,

Sorry to hear of your troubles. It never ceases to amaze me that some doctors have such poor bed side manners. Your story reminds me of a terrible experience I had when my pacer in my stomach was replaced, but that's a story for another day.

Good luck with your search for a new surgeon.

Blake

wow

by cfritza - 2010-01-19 09:01:13

So sorry to hear about you bad expreience today- the guy sounds like a real JERK. I dealt with a few of them in my lifetime and did not keep them around. You need to feel good about the Dr's in your life which I am sure you know already. Best wishes in finding the one! Carol

oh LORD keep looking!!!!!

by sam78 - 2010-01-19 10:01:06

What a jerk! There is not one thing that pisses me off more with specialists, then when they are referred a patient and they dont even bother to read what the patient is coming in for! RIDICULOUS! You know some people are the fly by the seat of your pants sort of people and just go in do there thing and leave.. But come on, we are talking about hearts here. Life or death! Thank God there are multiple doctors out there. I would definitely give an ear full to your cardiologist. That is one thing that is nice about being in healthcare, is at least I know most of the doctors before I ever need their services. It is so hard and stressful to find a new doctor going in blind. Good luck hun, I will try to catch you tonight on FB. I suppose I should post an update about my fine day as well.

Good Grief!

by pacergirl - 2010-01-19 11:01:09

Tracey, I don't know where some dr. get their bed side manners or there lack of. It seems that you just don't fit there "profile" the one that says this is how "we" do pacemakers. We sell one brand and we insert it this way. Any change in the set "order" of things messes up the clock and the clock is money. It is quite possible that this practice does a lot of pacemakers. They have figured out that these certain steps and procedures are the fasted way to do it and that is just what they do. More patients, more pacers, equal more money. They line up the patients and they all get the same surgery on a set day and time for golf. Not unlike chiropractors who line up the patients and they all get the same "adjustment".

There are some very good doctors in your area. I feel confident that you will find one. I pray that it is sooner than later.
love ya,
Pacergirl

Sad Sad Sad

by donb - 2010-01-19 11:01:19

It's very Sad to run into that kind of professional care. Tracey, I don't know how you were able to hold your cool with this guy. Sounds like it's done his way or the Highway. I've done some venting on our site in the past about having appointments with our GOOD Dr. and the lack of even looking at my records until I tell him to please look at them only to get a dumb look.

This really bugs me because I know you're on top of your condition and have helped all of us. I guess we all have to be carefull in choosing our care takers and not have all our eggs in one basket, in other words keep more than 1 cardiologist EP. I did some research for another member a few months ago and got names & address in your area. There are lots to check out. One of our local is now in Hudson, Fl a Dr Goyal. His father did my laminectomy. It was a sad day when his son made the move to Florida as he was highly recommended as a Cardiologist EP. I'm sure you'll do your homework and get the proper care.
Good Luck Tracey!! donb










Take Charge

by ElectricFrank - 2010-01-20 02:01:15

Tracey,
Sounds like this guy is off the list. For what it is worth I find that being all business pays off. Leave the bedside manners out of it if they are directly related to the surgery. When it comes to surgery I want someone who is very skilled and can be trusted to do what we agree on. The problem is that the skilled ones seemed to be the biggest asses.

My suggestion is to start off by taking charge. Ask if he has read your chart. If not tell him you will wait while he finds and reads it. My interchange with the jerk from anesthesia on my recent replacement went like this. He came in and started telling me what they were going to do. I tried to interrupt him to ask if he had read the memo I had attached to my file. He just kept on going. Finally, I raised my hand and literally yelled STOP. He tried to start again and I said STOP OR GET OUT. That got his attention. I told him he would have to find and read my attachment before we could go on and under no circumstances would I sigh his release until he understood my wishes.

It reminds me of the old story about how to handle a donkey..hit him in the face with a 2x4 to get his attention.

I know you can handle the situation, but also know from my own experience how hard it is sometimes.

By the way another thing I found helpful was to ask each person involved in a significant part of my experience if I could trust them to carry out our agreement. That turned out to be one of the best things I did. It totally eliminated the technique of being vague and then acting innocent that medical types are good at.

Best of luck,

frank

Question?

by ElectricFrank - 2010-01-20 07:01:57

How come there aren't laws about us men being examined by female docs. Shouldn't there be a man in the room. (:

frank

big strong men

by Tracey_E - 2010-01-20 08:01:45

are suppose to be able to defend themselves. That, and they'd be kicking the extra man out to get the hot chick to himself.

I have an appointment Fri with an EP. A female, tho I'm pretty sure that part is coincidence :o)

Frank

by Tracey_E - 2010-01-20 08:01:58

I don't care that he's an ass and has no bedside manner, I could handle that. I'm all for taking charge, but I really don't think I could have done anything else to get him to see me as a person with a brain. Maybe he would have treated me differently if I were older or male, but nothing short of a 2x4 was going to get his attention, and I forgot to take one with me, lol. His response to everything I suggested outside the box was to fold his arms, shrug his shoulders and say (insert Bronx accent) "sometime you gotta do what you gotta do" or "nope, can't do it that way".

Words cannot say how strongly I feel violated at him trying to undress me. Male doctors do NOT do that, especially alone in a room with no female staff present, and there's just no excuse for opening the door. When he came back in, he finished looking at the old scar then stood there telling me how he was going to do things as I struggled back into my bra. All while staring. He was trying to put me in my place, intimidate me into bowing to his superior judgment. When I didn't give in, he suggested I go back to the surgeon who did it the first time.

My message to my cardio yesterday was I did not feel comfortable with this guy and I wanted another name, short and tactful. I was going to be polite and not put down his colleague, but the more I think about it, the more I think he needs to know.

Oh Man

by Pelelives - 2010-01-20 09:01:20

Sorry to hear that your old doc hooked you up with a jerkTracey. I would have been so angry and I am sure you were. Good for you that you managed to get out of there without a scene. A cardio-thoracic surgeon actually did my sub-mammary. He was recommended by the EP cardiologist because he knew he couldn't do the procedure from a surgical perspective. You may want to ask your cardiologist about that route. The cardio/thoracic surgeon said a plastic surgeon could actually do it in the future (if he is no longer practicing) but that I would have to have a cardiologist there as well. Expensive to have two specialists in surgery I am sure - that would be the downside.

Timely Article re: it happens

by Pelelives - 2010-01-20 10:01:04

Cardiologist indicted on 61 counts of abusing patients
by Jim Walsh - Jan. 19, 2010 06:42 PM
The Arizona Republic .
Seventeen new victims came forward after a Mesa cardiologist was accused last summer of sexually abusing female patients, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said Tuesday.

Dr. Richard J. Lewis, 53, was indicted on 61 felony counts involving a total of 19 women. The indictment was made public Tuesday.

Link: www.mesarepublic.com

Sue

by Tracey_E - 2010-01-20 11:01:58

I don't know what Fl law is, only my other experience. My cardio and gyn are always meticulous about having a female in the room. My female internist is even careful about it! She always calls a nurse in before doing anything.

I already told my cardio's nurse what happened. She was shocked, said they refer people to him all the time. My guess is mostly what they send there are bypasses- patients who don't have opinions on the procedure and the surgeon can make all the decisions. My doc is in procedures all morning so I won't hear from him until the end of the day. His PA is supposed to be in by noon, left her a message.

Question for the Pacer Chicks

by ElectricFrank - 2010-01-22 02:01:33

I have thought long and hard before sticking my neck out, but as most of you know that has never bothered me.

How do you expect a surgeon to intelligently discuss where and how to implant a pacemaker under your breast if you are unwilling and even ready to bring legal action if he asks to see the breast. Remember you are hiring him to slice and dice your breast in O.R. (without looking???). To do a replacement he will need to know not only where the original is located, but also since it is buried deep, what route the original surgeon used to get there. He or she can't do that by examining you through several layers of clothing and bra.

And if you are that upset by the process, how do you hope to have an intelligent interchange with the doc and put pressure on to get what you want?

This isn't to justify the incompetence of the surgeon you encountered Tacey. We don't need them and walking out of their office is the only constructive thing to do.

Please don't tell me I don't understand since I am a male. I was married to a very intelligent and emotionally grounded women who handled her interactions with male doctors very well. She never had any issues with stripping off whatever was necessary to be examined.

So now I've done it. Feel free to give me heck, but please think over what I've said.

Frank

by Tracey_E - 2010-01-22 04:01:02

I don't have any problem with doctors examining me. My outrage was the lack of respect, not my modesty showing. I have a problem with not having a woman in the room while he did it, with him taking my clothing off rather than ask me do it, with him not giving me a drape, with him staring at me- and not my eyes- rather than give me a chance to dress when he was done and we were still talking, and with him opening the door while I was sitting there topless so anyone walking down the hall or in the room across the hall could see me. It was not professional, it was creepy.

Actually, I didn't walk out. Once I decided no way in hell was he ever doing my surgery, I simply quit asking questions, and when he suggested I call the surgeon who put it in "because he knows where to find it", I smiled and nodded and said thank you, paid my copay, signed out and left. I remained calm and polite. The explosion didn't happen until the lobby of the office building. :o)

Dear Frank

by pupu - 2010-01-22 05:01:37

I have no intention to 'give you heck', like you put it. I respect your kind advice to people and accept your question to be sincere, and I have thought it over. TraceyE actually already pointed out many of the things I also was going to say, but I still want to post my comment. I will try to make it as short as I can...

So, I was 36 years old when I suddenly had to have a PM. I was totally suprised and rather scared and did not know anything about PMs or what to expect. I was relying on my doctors for everything. As I was feeling somewhat overwhelmed, I wasn't able to ask a lot of specific questions before the op, indeed I would not have known what to ask. Hence the need to rely on professionals. I was beeing wheeled in to the OR by an older male nurse, who was for some curious reason telling me why he thought that middle aged women with high education make the worst patients. And he told me right there in the corridor that because of my huge breasts the surgeon would have to be very thorough with the leads, and that because of the weight of the huge breasts I would need to be more careful after the surgery and so on. I was not upset at the information, but I was a little uneasy about the way it was provided. I was feeling a little like a freak of nature, but was willing to let it go. Then he told me that I was having a temporary PM during the op, which no one had ever mentioned before. I had absolutely no idea what that means and this was a minute before surgery. So in the OR they remove the top of the hospital gown, which I fully expected because of obvious reasons. Women do expect to have to open their mouths at a dentist and strip certain garments at a gynegologist etc... But before they covered me with anything they without warning pulled my pants to my ancles in one swoop, and left me there for a while like that, before I got any covers on. That I understand was necessary for the temporary PM, but the way it was done still makes me shudder. And yes, the pants were there at my ancles during the whole op until someone finally pulled them up at the end... And this is not even the whole story, but I do not want to bore you with more details, the point is not the what but the how. I felt I was handled like a piece of meat and not a person. Now for someone else this may not have been a big deal, but for me it was. I am very glad your dear wife never felt upset by the way her doctors/nurses dealt with her.

Get a new doc

by dwelch - 2010-01-25 06:01:12


I recently moved and the new doc was the worst I had had to date (I have moved from time to time and had several cardiologists). I know what it is like to be one of those lab animals they keep in a cage. I tolerated it about a year which meant two or maybe three face to face (face to lab rat that is) visits and that was it. Started looking through the list of other docs in town in the health plan and just picked another. this one so far is as good as any of the others I have had, except for a couple of bad apples, they have all been exceptional.

now pacer choice you may not have much of a choice there, the chevy dealer isnt going to sell you a ford. If you have a big family they are not going to let you take the two seater sports car, its a minivan or else. Once you have a doc you can trust, then it is much easier, let them pick the right device for you, the one they are going to be able to install, maintain, etc.

You know you're wired when...

You can take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’.

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