Mini blessing

General
1

Hey...we get so few happy moments I figured I'd throw this out there. AND, I doubt that anyone outside of this world would understand why more doctors would make me happy. LOL

I had been to 1 appointment with a rheumatologist when my insurance changed. I was a little concerned as he came highly recommended and he did seem like a knowledgeable guy. I just had my first appointment with the new guy yesterday and I can't tell you how grateful I am for the change. Sometimes you don't know what's missing if you don't know what you are looking for.

First off, he was on time. For someone with a disease that is so wearing, that is important. The 1st guy had me waiting an hour. The new guy spent a full 45 minutes with me. He went through all of my previous bloodwork (I brought it all) and actually explained what each thing is, and why it may matter later, etc and what the interaction is between some of them.He asked me tons of questions too about symptoms etc and that was in addition to the new patient questionnaire that I had filled out. OH! And he actually checked me out. May sound silly but the other guy never touched me. This guy checked every joint, all the lymph nodes and made sure I knew what to look for.

While he was doing that, he told me a story about a patient who saved her own life by refusing to accept her PCPs assessment that she was fine when she knew something was wrong. Turned out she had a lymphoma....he told me to press and advocate for myself anytime I believe something isn't right. He also talked to me quite a bit about the emotional aspect of all of it. This is a dude that gets it. Wow.

He is sending me to a pulminologist to get a base line since I do have that annoying dry cough. And also to a neurologist since I have parasthesis which has gotten drastically worse since that horrible episode I had last month. He wants to get a clear picture of what is happening so he can determine if its SS related or not. I feel like I am such good hands now. What a relief.

2

EnjoyLIfe, I do believe that you have found 'your Doctor'! Yipee! I'm so happy for you!

3

OMG *speachless* ! :)

4

I would say that is a wonderful blessing inDeed. I’m still waiting for my referral to go through for a rheumy closer to where I live. I sure hope I get as lucky with my new rheumy as you have with yours. What a relief for you. I’m so happy for you.

5

WOW is right...is he near southern California?????

so happy for your BLESSING......

6

A blessing indeed! :slight_smile:

7

I am very happy for you. =) You are very lucky to have found a good one. Keep him a secret so other people wont know about him, so he doesn’t get too busy! lol

8

All I can say is YES! YES! YES!

9

I am happy for you!

10

to Enjoylife,

I am happy you found a personable caring doc.

That happened to me too! I was first sent to the rheu by my HMO doc. When I arrived to see him he

asked me what can I do for you. Can you imagine??? Then when I asked him about my dry mouth he replied

"Keep your mouth shut!" I returned to my HMO PCP and related the scenario. Luckily, my HMO became

part of the UCLA network and the docs are so much better --knowledgeable, concerned, caring, understanding, and

above all encouraging!!!! My rheu communicates with me through emails within a day. I do not know how those

previous old docs are able to retain their practices. I suppose they do not read the latest research nor do they attend

conferences to learn about their specialties either. I had gone to see the urologist for pain down there and he put me on a

diet that eliminated caffeine, spices, chocolate. The only things I could have were dairy, meat, potatoes, butter. He puts

everyone on that diet. This guy was also part of the old network. It turns out that I had vulvodynia. Of course he had

never heard of it and I did not enlighten him either. (I went to the GYN part of the UCLA network and she knew

right away what the problem was. If you get this know that it takes about 9 months to a year to recover from it. It is so

painful. Yoga really helped.

Great that you are in the right hands now. Sometimes it takes a while to find that special doc.

2akl

My new rheu is great. I thanked him for being my doctor!!!

11

Yay too…thank you all for celebrating with me. Like I said, I don't think people on the outside of SS would truly understand why I am so happy and relieved. LOL

I thought it would help to remember that they are out there. Just takes a little work to find them. OH! And just to add to the fun, he asked what I thought about the Venus Williams thing. He feels that she had a great opportunity to being attention to SS and then dropped the ball. He said even if she is doing well, she could have continued to talk about it or even step up for fundraising etc. He was a little disappointed in her. Yay again.

Sorry Nonfrumping…I am in NY. Down on Long Island. :( Home of wild barometer swings that totally set off painful days.

12

2akl -- I'm in the same area. If you have any great doctors from UCLA, could you please let me know? I have a horrible GP at UCLA so I was thinking of switching to a Dr. Harrell at St. Johns who has been recommended and has good reviews. I could sure use a good caring gastroenterologist if you ever meet one. Thank you!

DLT88 (aka -- Diane)



2akitalover said:

to Enjoylife,

I am happy you found a personable caring doc.

That happened to me too! I was first sent to the rheu by my HMO doc. When I arrived to see him he

asked me what can I do for you. Can you imagine??? Then when I asked him about my dry mouth he replied

"Keep your mouth shut!" I returned to my HMO PCP and related the scenario. Luckily, my HMO became

part of the UCLA network and the docs are so much better --knowledgeable, concerned, caring, understanding, and

above all encouraging!!!! My rheu communicates with me through emails within a day. I do not know how those

previous old docs are able to retain their practices. I suppose they do not read the latest research nor do they attend

conferences to learn about their specialties either. I had gone to see the urologist for pain down there and he put me on a

diet that eliminated caffeine, spices, chocolate. The only things I could have were dairy, meat, potatoes, butter. He puts

everyone on that diet. This guy was also part of the old network. It turns out that I had vulvodynia. Of course he had

never heard of it and I did not enlighten him either. (I went to the GYN part of the UCLA network and she knew

right away what the problem was. If you get this know that it takes about 9 months to a year to recover from it. It is so

painful. Yoga really helped.

Great that you are in the right hands now. Sometimes it takes a while to find that special doc.

2akl

My new rheu is great. I thanked him for being my doctor!!!

13

ENJOYLIFE -- I LOVED reading about your experience!! Yesterday I read of someone else meeting a dream doctor in FL after years of suffering and then to read your great experience with a new great doctor today gives me hope that these doctors are really out there! We just need to find them. I have the GP from heck. Doesn't listen, brushes me off, tells me everything is normal --- She does not look at me -- and NO EXAM at all. She comes in and types into the computer and doesn't give me eye contact at all and doesn't ask me one single question about my health. She also puts up her hand when I tell her my symptoms -- like "talk to the hand". No matter what my blood work shows -- prediabetic and Stage 3 kidney damage -- she refuses to discuss it and tells me everything is 'fine'. I am so happy you finally found a REAL doctor that you deserve! I have hope now! What a great doctor you found. I am so impressed.

14

EnjoyLife.

WOW! I consider that to be a major blessing! If only all doctors were so humble. I have noticed a strong correlation between a "down-to-earth" & humble doctor vs The "I don't really know or care"doctor.

My new doc is awesome too. He actually came in the room and sat next to me on the examination table. He actually spoke, listened & seemed so much more progressive with knowledge and caring too! Unfortunately, when we were getting ready to look at all of my information on his computer, the computer system died..LOL! Everything is meant to be. I know our next appt.will be great: )

My prior Rheumy was cold and arrogant. He had a God complex and he was ALWAYS "right" about everything. He did touch me once. That was when he diagnosed me with Fibro. So, for 2 YEARS I was actually under the care of a Rheumy. It was a "sit-in" doctor. It was the 1st time that we both met each other. She was the one to bring up the SS diagnoses!! Se gave me a list of Rheumys in the area. She was startled when I told her tat I've bee under a Rheumy's care for 2 years!! So, that's why I got rid of my cold & arrogant Rheumy. I was and still am very angry with him. Two years and he didn't care to get it!

So long story short...believe that little voice in your head AKA intuition as soon as the doctor walks in to greet you.

Humble Doctor= Better care

Arrogant Doctor= An arrogant human. It's all about them..not you. RUN!!

15

Wow! Congratulations for finding a “keeper”. My nephrologist is just like your rheum. She treats me like I am human and looks out for me. My primary is like that too. My latest rheum is partially there but does not explain unless I ask questions. She is thorough though.

I fired two nephrologists and two rheumatologist’s before I found the doctors that I felt would give me the best care. I was recently in the hospital and had a conversation with a nurse about my medical history and the doctors I see and she congratulated me on being proactive in my own care. She said too many people do not stand up for their best care and accept what is told to them. I guess that when you are in desperate need of answers you learn how to push more for what you need.

I hope that he remains good to you. I love hearing that there are good doctors out there.

16

To DLT88

Hi. The rheu group in the 2020 building on Sta Monica Blvd is where I see Dr. Ben-Artzi. I heard that there is a woman PCP

in the building that is great. I do not remember her name but she is from India. The receptionist where I see my HMO PCP

sees this doc for everything so she does not need to see a Gyn. I think that Dr. Hallis in my HMO PCP group is the best

doctor!!! I have seen him when my regular doc is unavailable. He is really knowledgeable and personable. Above all,

he spends as much time with each patient as necessary! This could present a problem if you are unable to wait until

he sees you though.

2akl

17

It is such good news and I'm excited for your good fortune. A lot of doctors are not so great.

What part of the world is this rheumy located?

Might be a good idea if you have a great doctor, post his/her information. Continued blessings

Sabra

18

THANK YOU, 2akitalover!



2akitalover said:

To DLT88

Hi. The rheu group in the 2020 building on Sta Monica Blvd is where I see Dr. Ben-Artzi. I heard that there is a woman PCP

in the building that is great. I do not remember her name but she is from India. The receptionist where I see my HMO PCP

sees this doc for everything so she does not need to see a Gyn. I think that Dr. Hallis in my HMO PCP group is the best

doctor!!! I have seen him when my regular doc is unavailable. He is really knowledgeable and personable. Above all,

he spends as much time with each patient as necessary! This could present a problem if you are unable to wait until

he sees you though.

2akl

19

I am grateful too…. my primary doc is ok and a nice guy. I do trust him for basic things but the fact is, I know everything about his life, kids, etc because he mostly talks about himself. And quite enthusiastically. It is kinda funny. However the very first rheumy I saw all those years ago ran her tests an declared there was nothing wrong with me. When I asked what i should do about the pain I was in, she said the tests show nothing is wrong. And…if I wanted to come back again i could but she didn't really see a reason to. I still want to smack her. I could've been diagnosed years ago and possibly not have suffered near as much as I have. It was so odd for a bit to have a doc actually talk to you like a person.

20

I'm so glad you found a good doctor. It makes all the difference. :)