Monday, November 21, 2011

The battle to find a good doc



When Lil J was first born we chose our family practice doc to be Lil J's doc.  He came to the hospital when he was born & examined him, etc.  We were happy with our doc & happy that he would care for Lil J. 

But he never wanted to do a well baby exam on Lil J after the initial exam at birth.  And when we did have issues & take Lil J in he would always just brush us off & never listen to us or do anything at all.  He offered no support at all in selecting a formula.  In fact the formula Lil J was on was causing issues & the doc had insisted the formula wasn't the cause.  When I finally trusted my instinct & switched formulas the problem went away.

In those early days, when I couldn't get help from our family practice doc, I took him to an office of alternative medicine doctors.  There was a woman doctor there that we liked a lot & she also saw children & agreed to see Joseph.  But a few months later we received a letter in the mail saying she had left the practice.

Somewhere along the way hubby & I also weren't happy with the care at our family practice office.  It was a husband & wife team (the wife was a PA) & I had always preferred the wife & she had started only doing cosmetic procedures & not taking care of patients anymore, that was a big part of the problem. 

So we went on a search & found a new doc.  We loved the doc & the PA at the office.  Our one issue (that I don't think will ever be resolved) is that they don't get back to us with results of tests.  But I suppose nothing is ever perfect. 

Hubby has always seen the male doc that owns the practice.  I have seen him, but I prefer the PA, a female.  And I also preferred the PA for Lil J.  She was so great with Lil J & she totally understood my preference for natural & alternative treatments for things.  She even recommended that I try raw milk for Lil J when I told her he couldn't drink cow milk & said that she only gives her own children (preschool twins) raw milk.  She also always did very thorough exams on Lil J, which although not necessary, is comforting to know that all is well & he is on track for his age.  She was extremely polite about my not wanting to vaccinate Lil J.  She even filled out a form & we both signed it, which she said legally covered that we had discussed the issue & that way she wasn't legally required to ever bring it up again, which was wonderful.  It's always such a touchy issue & I hear such horror stories from other parents that don't vaccinate.  Thankfully I have never been in a situation that bad. 

Alas now we find that she has left the practice.  She left to be a stay at home mom & to homeschool her twins.  I am happy for her, that she gets to do that.  I can understand it as a mother.  But I am sad to have lost such a great doctor. 

For now they are trying to replace her & I am praying that we like the replacement.  We shall see.......

3 comments:

Danielle-Marie said...

Our health care system here is a lot different than yours, but one thing that is probably the same is the lack of doctors. My family doctor is about 60 years old. When he was a young man he was my grandparents family doctor (still is, for my grandmother who is alive), he is my mom's family doctor, my family doctor, and my childrens' family doctor. He is INCREDIBLE. The only complaint I have is that his receptionist has a terrible attitude. She makes me feel guilty for calling to request an appointment. Pretty soon I imagine my doc will be retiring. There is a shortage of doctors here so I'm nervous about it. We do have a family clinic in town but after so many years with Doctor Reynolds I don't know how easily I'll accept somebody else. Something I admire about my doctor is his respect for my decisions as a mother. Where you have been judged for not vaccinating J, I have felt the same because I didn't breastfeed. Doctor Reynolds never made me feel guilty and he was kind enough to help me choose a different formula when Landon was having tummy issues. Prayers that we both end up with great doctors we can trust.

Frau Guten Tag said...

In the past I've worked with several different nurses that were originally from Canada. They always commented that the health care system was very different, but they all insisted that it is far superior to the system in the States. I don't know specifics though, so it's hard to say why. But I had no idea that you have a shortage of doctors, that sounds very bad to me.

Danielle-Marie said...

We visit doctors and hospitals free of charge. Like to have a baby here you don't get a bill later for it. We still have to pay for prescriptions but most places of employment include a health plan. For instance, Ryan's health plan makes it so we can go to the dentist with full coverage (unless it's a cosmetic procedure) and most prescription medication is cost is covered 80%. But before he got his new job we were in trouble because I was diabetic during both kids' pregnancies and couldn't afford the supplies (thank goodness for my parents). There is a major shortage of both doctors and nurses here.