So this is an office with four different doctors--two that I like a lot, one that I just barely tolerate (we call him "Dr. F-Word" because he loves to swear in front of little children!) and the other one I pretty much hate. Here's why:
When Pickle was two months old she got really sick--Gooser had just started pre-school and brought all kinds of new germs home--she was coughing and wheezing and just a mess! I brought her in and he said she was ok and to just keep my eye on her. So I did that for a day, but she definitely wasn't getting better and I was pretty sure she was getting worse. She would cough so violently it would make her throw up and her breathing sounded scary.
So I dropped Gooser at preschool the next day and called the dr.'s office from my cell thinking I would just head right over there. I told the staff member that answered that I was really worried and needed to bring the baby in right away. She told me they were booked all day, blah, blah--and I was like, I really need the dr. to listen to her now.
So the doctor gets on the phone and was like, "We're booked." OK, the baby is TWO MONTHS OLD and she's NOT BREATHING RIGHT when am I supposed to come in? I told the doctor that I felt it was really important (*note* she is my 5th child and I am not an alarmist and hardly ever take the kids in except for checkups unless I'm truly concerned) and he says (this is pretty much a direct quote) "So what am I supposed to do? Go into the waiting room and tell everybody in there that THEY have to wait longer so I can see YOU!?" I said (calmly) "Yes."
He got really nasty with me then and told me that "OK, you can bring her in but you will have to wait for a long time." Whatever.
Anyway, he checks her out and, yet again, says that she is fine and that I should just take her home. I did reluctantly but just didn't have a good feeling.
The next morning I called back and asked to see one of my favorite doctors (luckily the loser doc wasn't there that day) and they let me bring her right over. This doctor listened to her and almost immediately said that she needed to be admitted to the hospital--she told me to go straight there.
Long story, short--the baby had pneumonia and the RSV virus and had to be in the hospital for five days.
So back to today...I ended up with Loser Doc again (only one available) and he checks Teddy and says that he's fine and that it's a lymph node and "harmless." He's being pretty nice, joking around, etc. Then I asked him if he could peek at Pickle's ears because she's been a little congested (see my post about our weekend trip) and I figured since I was there I might as well make sure her ears are clear.
He gets all crazy-like on me and says "NO! I don't PEEK in anybody's ears!! I can go GET HER CHART and give her a FULL EXAM if that's what you want but I won't PEEK in her ears!!" What a jerk. I guess I'm extra-sensitive about this because my dad was a pediatrician (a very sweet one) and would have never in a million years said something like that! He just would have taken 30 seconds and PEEKED in the ears!
Anyway, I told him to go ahead and give her the full exam--her ears are fine--but I left there hating him even more. Like I said, he's an a-hole.
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2 comments:
Wow he is an A-hole, what's his trip?
And not to defend his attitude probelm in any way because I do think he has one...but my hubby and I own a pediatric practice and employ four peds docs. I think his comment about peeking in the ears comes from issues due to insurance reimbursement. One of the biggest problems with medicine these days is the tiny amount docs are reimbursed through insurance companies. They have to see 10x as many patients during the same amount of time to cover overhead. I don't think it was like that when your Dad practiced.
So anyway our peds docs always complain when parents come in for one child and then are asked to see a sibling quickly without an exam because they can't charge for it, it happens all the time. However, he should have a much more tactful way of telling you this and sounds like a complete nutcase and very poor bedside manner. Avoid hime at all costs!
Cathy--I'm sure he had to do all that w/ the chart, etc. b/c of insurance stuff. I guess I just wish things could be more like they were when my dad was practicing...not always so business-like. And, yes, it was mainly his awful "bedside manner" that put me off. If he had just said "Sure, let me just grab her chart and you can make the co-payment" or whatever I would have been fine w/ it! He's just a jerk!
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