Just not a good day!!!

[Virginia]

I think this is going to be a rant - so those of you who do not want to listen I guess you will just have to tune out!!

First of all, I have some black looking spots (quite a lot of them) on some wood trim on one side of my house. A handyman who is supposed to be working on my deck (hasn't shown up in 3 days) told me it looked like termites. Well, today I happen to find out that a couple of neighbors have "carpenter bees". I looked and it is exactly what I have. So don't know how long this will take to get my house back the way it should be. Not a great HOA and Management Company here. I can send e-mails until I am blue in the face, but I am not sure how much good it will do. If I withhold my monthly dues they can place a lean on my property so that is not an option. Anyway, I don't want to do that.

Second - I had a real shock today. I think all of you know how much I like my Neurologist. He diagnosed me 16 years ago with no records from my PCP. He is the only one who actually listened and realized that I seriously had something wrong. Everyone else dismissed my complaints and two of them told me I was the perfect picture of health. No test, nothing until him. I go to my Neuro every six months and have never missed an appointment. Six months ago we were talking in general about Doctors and I told him he better not take early retirement. He told me he would be around when I died. He is of course younger and he was joking with me.

Well, today when I was asking about IVIg. He told me "no", but then he added I am going to turn you over to Dr. _______ (can't remember name). He said he was leaving and was going to retire. After I left his office I realized that he seemed not to be himself. He told me he was going to work part-time. He said he would be with the same group and they have a Neurologist at one of the hospitals and he was going to be that Neurologist. He then told me that he might work 7 days a week sometime, but I guess he meant he would then have time to make that up during the next week. He then said that due to a family situation that he had to have some week days off. Then he told me that he was trying to extend his working years. He said he could not continue at the pace he is going. He said he spends more time with his patients than any other Doctor there (this I very much believe). Then he ends up having to do all the other paper work that they now have to do later, so ends up staying in the evenings to get it done.

He says that the Doctor he is turning me over to is quite young, probably middle 30s, and he thinks he has been practicing for maybe 5 years. However, he said that he was an MS Specialist and was going to be their MS Doctor now. He said he thought this Doctor has about 1,000 MS patients. If that is true then all the other Doctors in this practice would have had to turn their MS patients over to him also. He has been practicing in another town about 20 miles from here.

My PCP left to go into research and I still have not gone to try and get another one at the same practice and now this. I guess it just has to soak in because I really had thought I would have this Doctor for another 10 years and by then I might not be here.

I have lost 4 PCPs in the last few years. Two of them I really liked, and this Neurologist knows my history and what has happened to me.

By the way, he said this Doctor "will have to get use to you". I guess because I carry on with him so much.

That's all folks!

[stillstANNding]

Oh, Virginia, so sorry you are losing your specialist. It feels unfair but nothing can be done about it. Also sorry about no IVIG at this point. Did he say why?

I've had carpenter bees. They like unpainted wood. They were going in the vents of the overhang and boring into the fascia board because the inside-side was not painted. They bore holes and raise their young in them. You will see some sawdust on whatever is under that overhang. I had our bug lady come and she slid a very thin strip of aluminum or cooper behind there.

I remember it was a big worry to me but not so much to her.

I wish you well on both counts.
ANN at the beach

[Howie]

When it rains, it pours, doesn't it? Everything will work out for you. You may end up liking the new Neuro even better that the old one. Give them a chance. Ann gave a great solution for the bees, but you may have to hire someone that knowS how to deal with carpenter bees. There may be even more ways to stop them.

[agate]

Virginia, it's always hard to lose a doctor you've been on good terms with. I just lost my dentist, primary care doctor and neuro in the past year and it's been tough.

It sounds as if you've been referred to someone who might be more informed about MS than the retiring neuro. Will you get to meet the new MS neurologist soon? You could try looking him up on one of those doctor-ratings sites. I did that when looking for a new doctor and found other people's comments very helpful.

I've had carpenter ants but not carpenter bees. It was the fascia board that the ants attacked. It had to be replaced. But bees sting! I hope you can get rid of them soon.

[Sunshine]

Insect problems are so annoying. They're insidious like MS, doing hidden damage until it is no longer hidden.

I lost two doc's this year. I think all the changes in the business of medicine have resulted in early retirement by doctors who are sick of having to be clerks in addition to being doctors. Can't say I blame them.

Let's see what your new neuro says about IVIG.

[SalpalSally]

(((((Virginia)))))

[Pegakafarmgirl]

as the saying goes,,>>"if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all",,

Virginia,, you have to take that sign off your back "kick me",,

give this guy a chance,,you never know,, and your ants,,I am so at a lost with this one

[Virginia]

They first have to get rid of the carpenter bees and then there are two long boards that come down in a triangle that will both have to be replaced. Right now it looks ugly out there.

I looked up the Neurologist that I will be seeing and he has been practicing for only 6 years. He has a 3.3 star rating. Just for the heck of it I looked up the one I am going to now and he has a 4.75 star rating. I don't know why he didn't get 5 stars as all the write ups about him sounded just like me and they all gave him 5 stars.

The new one, who I will not see for six months, had some bad things said and a lot of 1 stars. I will just have to deal with it as there is nothing I can do.

I am still so shocked. I have a feeling that something is going on with my Neurologist that he isn't saying because he really had led me to believe that he would be working in that office for quite a number of years to come and he really is not old enough to retire.

[agate]

You don't have to go to the doctor your present neuro is referring you to, of course. I suggest trying the local MS Society for names of neuros, preferably ones that specialize in MS.

Then you'll need to go through the list, which may be long. There may be only a couple of MS specialists, and my experience with those specialists here was that they weren't accepting new patients or didn't accept Medicaid. If you're not on Medicaid, that won't be an issue.

I went through the MS Society's list and weeded out those who were too far away and tried to weed out people who looked as if they might retire at any minute.

That still left a very long list, and then I went to the ratings Websites. I haven't met the new neuro yet but I'm set up with an appointment. If I don't like him, I'll move on to someone else on that list.

Another way that is probably better but I've never used it: If you know anyone who has a neurologist, and you trust that person's judgment, you could ask for the neurologist's name and try to sound the person out about what to expect.

I hope you can find a good primary care doctor soon because that person could refer you to a neurologist.

It sounds as if your current doctor had a sudden change in his life--maybe a health problem for himself or a family member.

[Howie]

And if you don't want the new Neuro, you have the list where they were rated, 4 star, 5 star, then check how far away they are from you, and between them, you may find one.

One thing about that rating system, your new Neuro hasn't been practicing for very long. So naturally he won't have been seen by as many folks. Your old doctor has been around a long time, so he has seen more folks, and they provide the rating.

Give him a chance, you may like him.

[Virginia]

I plan to go with an open mind. I think in six months I can work around to that. I guess it would be best to stay with that practice if I can because they have all my records already and everything is just right there on the computer. Also, a Neurologist is hard to get here unless you go to that practice and one who specializes in MS is even harder to find.

I think I am beginning to get a bit of a complex. It has been so many Doctors who have left me and one who wasn't leaving his practice that I had been going to for 25 years just resigned me as a patient. That was right after I had been diagnosed with MS and my PCP resigned me. He had years and years of records on me that had he sent me to a Neurologist I could have easily gotten a diagnosis much sooner than I did. Instead he just thought it was all in my head. When I got diagnosed he resigned me. I really was very little trouble to that Doctor. I remember one time he told me that there couldn't be much wrong with me that he didn't see me but about once a year, so it wasn't that I was constantly running to a Doctor. His nurse, who I saw and had a long talk with later said she knew he was afraid of a law suit.

I know I can't take all this stuff personally. Others have had things like this happen to them too.

[agate]

Doctors are right up there with the gods and they know it. Some seem to have no qualms about encouraging some patients to stay with them and discouraging others.

In my cynical way I've noticed that those patients who don't have a lot of money tend to be the ones who lose doctors most often.

Doctors are also businesspeople, and they often hire people to keep an eye on their bottom line to make sure their finances are doing OK--that is, they're intending to make a profit, to come out ahead.

Doctors don't tend to be as committed to the idea of public service as they may have been many years ago. Some are frankly in it for the money--and some are eager to have patients who have money and influence, the "glitterati."

If we ever switch to a different medical care system, we'll probably have to go to clinics and be "seen" by whatever doctor they choose to give us at that time. This might mean being seen by a different doctor every time we turn up with a problem.

I'm already used to that because I was in such a system for a few years when I had no medical coverage. I went to a community clinic and took whatever doctor was on duty at that time. I was treated--and had no complaints about the treatment I received.

My former PCP once told me (in a nice way) that she was losing money every time she saw patients on Medicaid/Medicare. After hearing that I was amazed that she kept me on as a patient but she did.

Hang in there, Virginia. You have every right to an attentive and caring neurologist, and there's probably one in your vicinity. I hope you don't have to go through several of them before you find that person but at times the search can be difficult.

If you can get hold of a primary care doctor who cares about you, you can approach that person with your concern about finding a neurologist. Some primary care docs just pick the name they always give to patients looking for a neurologist, but even then the doctor probably knows enough about that neurologist to feel comfortable recommending him/her.

Case in point: Years ago my primary care doctor referred me to a urologist. I felt that I'd had totally inadequate care from the urologist and noticed that my primary care doctor seemed to be of that opinion too. A couple of years later I asked the same doctor for another referral to a urologist, and was referred to another name. That person turned out to be better. I don't know for sure but think it's possible that the first urologist got replaced by the second because my primary care doctor didn't think much of the way the first urologist was treating people. They see one another's records.

[Jeanie Z]

:) Hi Virginia, My PCP I had for over 30 years called all his patients to come get their records and said he was retiring. When I talked to him he said the insurance was so high that he was not making any money so he was going to go to the local hospital and work as an ER doctor and would not have to have his own insurance. Also I had noticed he was having memory problems.

I found a new PCP but after two visits I was seen by his associate who barely spoke English. I made another appointment to see him and he told me he was not going to keep doing patients that he had 6 doctors working for him and was going to open another office soon.

I looked in my insurance book and found a doctor I had seen years ago for I can't remember what but I remembered him as nice. That is who I see now. I had two neuros and both moved out of town, so I just see the PCP. He writes all my RX's including the LDN.

I was supposed to have the liver ultrasound today but they called and changed it to next Thursday since my insurance had not okayed it yet. Jeanie :)

[agate]

Doctors seem to be bouncing around quite a bit lately, at least for some people here. And people seem to be getting bounced around by their medical providers.

Are we learning to roll with the punches, do you think?

[Catdancer]

Getting new doctors...and doctors you trust...is a hassle. But I speak from experience -- don't settle for a doctor just because he's been referred by another, or because your records are there, particularly since they're all on the computer. That actually makes it much easier to switch doctors...a few clicks of the keyboard and your records can be sent anywhere.

I'm pretty satisfied right now with my Neuro. He has seen me several times over these past three years when I've had all these issues, and now that I'm apparently out of "crisis", has turned me over to a nurse practitioner, who I like a lot. She has more time to really talk, get to know my situation, and has been quite helpful.

It took trying out several general practitioners before I finally found the guy I'm using now. He is farther away, but well worth the trouble. He fits us in with urgent care when needed, is willing to take time to address our concerns, and calls back himself with test results, and action plans.

Then there's my urologist, who I love: quickly assessed my bladder issues, came up with the only treatment that's worked, has followed up, ready to do it again. Yay! But I went through two others before I found him, and years of bladder difficulties.

So shop around, and despite nth hesitate to "fire" someone if it doesn't feel closer comfortable!