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Someone left me this as neg rep:

you missed the point. doctors are paid to do the right things for you. If they don't they should lose their customers. Not a hate issue.

I absolutely did not miss the point. To be sure in every profession there are hacks. Those hacks need to be called out by either online reviews or a complaint directly to them. You're paying good money to see them and if you're not getting the appropriate service back, then do something about it. Call your insurance company. As consumers, we have choices and if you don't explore those options you're throwing money out the window. Again, I think once you get married and have kids, it's a game changer and you owe it to them to stay healthy and get your yearly physical. Cancer is so prevalent in our society and so costly to treat that you owe it to your family to stay up on things.

I am rather lucky in my situation with health insurance. Im in the union here at work, so my health insurance is paid for. Well, as of last year, we now have a 10 dolla co-pay. No big deal. Anyway, the way it works for us is, we have a health center and that's where we go if we have any issues. Just call, make an appointment and see the Doc. I've gone more than a few times over the years and I've seen a bevy of most of their Docs. Some are better than others in regards to attentiveness, but they all come into the room, sit down and talk to you, which in my experience is the most important thing.

The last three times, Ive seen this one guy. Young guy. He's always been respectful, forthright and I feel comfortable with him. He asks the right questions and he seems genuinely concerned. He does his job and he does it well. So much so that I've called the health center to give him a positive review. If I ever want a referral to a specialist, I ask and it's done. I consider myself very, very lucky in this respect.
 
First let me say that this doctor was/is an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist. Not just some general practicioner. He had me undergo some audio testing and then a CT Scan and a week later when I brought in the pictures from the scan to his office, I waited in his exam room for over an hour to speak with him. He finally comes in, takes the envelope, pulls out the picture and holds it up to his light (not an x-ray reader) for about ten seconds, brings it down and says "there's something wrong, but I don't know what it is". I thanked him and told him that I came up with the same diagnosis, but didn't go to medical school. He laughed and left the office. I sat there stunned. I was not in a hurry to waste my time at another doctor's office.

See, that was the problem right there. Its your time is better spent waiting at another doctor's office until you are satisfied they found what was wrong with you. Its not like you are doing them a favor by going there, you are doing yourself a favor.

I was in a similar situation but with a neck tumor. I embraced on a three months quest, bouncing from office to office of all kinds specialists that gave me the "I don't know, but its not in my area of specialty - go see ____" answer until I found a guy who knew what is going on. Sometimes guys get a tough attitude - oh its just a flesh wound and disregard a problem until its too late.
 
My wife and her mother are the same way. Instead of going to the Dr., they feel like they need to be 'tough' and will buy all sorts of snake oils, KM, books by so-called Dr.s, etc. It drives me ape ****. Needless to say, my MIL can't walk because she refused to get her knees checked, she FINALLY (after how many years?) went to get a growth on her neck checked to find out her artery is 95% clogged, and my fridge is full of MLM garbage.

Why are MY women so dumb?

I fixed it for you. ;)
 
See, that was the problem right there. Its your time is better spent waiting at another doctor's office until you are satisfied they found what was wrong with you. Its not like you are doing them a favor by going there, you are doing yourself a favor.

I was in a similar situation but with a neck tumor. I embraced on a three months quest, bouncing from office to office of all kinds specialists that gave me the "I don't know, but its not in my area of specialty - go see ____" answer until I found a guy who knew what is going on. Sometimes guys get a tough attitude - oh its just a flesh wound and disregard a problem until its too late.

embarked

What were you symptoms for a neck tumor and did the tumor cause a bump on your neck?
 
I have to agree with a lot of posters here about doctors seeming to be uncaring. I got very lucky in my experience to 1) have had a fantastic family doctor since I was 12 and 2) to find an oncologist who, while he did not have the best bedside manor, took his job seriously and the impact it can have on patients lives and 3) found an orthopedic surgical oncologist at the Huntsman Cancer Institute who was one of only a handful of doctors who had dealt with a tumor similar to mine, and happened to be the best doctor I have ever met before or since.

But living outside of Utah I have seen it is a total crap shoot. Seriously a Forrest Gump enterprise: you never know what you're gonna get. I needed surgery on my sinuses to take care of a sleep apnea that was causing some health issues, but doctor after doctor told me it was just allergies. One of them told me it was the altitude even though Utah is a higher altitude than Reno. I went to I think 5 doctors before one referred me to an ENT since I had dealt with my 5th raging sinus infection in 10 months. The ENT did CAT scans and found blockages and issues with cartilage that were causing me to not be able to breathe at night. I had surgery finally after almost 2 years of chasing down the core issue and I have been great ever since. It can really be frustrating.
 
Log, were you ever referred to get a sleep study done?

Yeah I was. It was determined with the sleep study and the CAT scan that I had obstructive sleep apnea, so they decided on surgery which cleared it up.
 
embarked

What were you symptoms for a neck tumor and did the tumor cause a bump on your neck?

A painless golf ball size lump on the neck yeah. Ear Nose Throat Specialists/Vascular Surgeons/Endocrinologists/Oncologists/General Surgeons/Neurologists/General Practitioners. These were the types of specialists that brushed me off and bounced me from one to another for 3 months until a 75 years old, semi retired oncologist knew what it was just by touching it and his diagnosis was confirmed after surgery. Luckily for me it was not cancerous and i still carry it since it grew back in but i had to be very persistent with all those *gists and go around until i find the right doctor who knows and cares.
 
A painless golf ball size lump on the neck yeah. Ear Nose Throat Specialists/Vascular Surgeons/Endocrinologists/Oncologists/General Surgeons/Neurologists/General Practitioners. These were the types of specialists that brushed me off and bounced me from one to another for 3 months until a 75 years old, semi retired oncologist knew what it was just by touching it and his diagnosis was confirmed after surgery. Luckily for me it was not cancerous and i still carry it since it grew back in but i had to be very persistent with all those *gists and go around until i find the right doctor who knows and cares.

Glad to hear it turned out ok. Things like that are never fun. In bold above is exactly correct. My orthopedic oncologist told me very succinctly that I needed to take control of my medical care. He said in the long run doctors have so much going on and so much pressure they can't give the individual attention the way they once could, so I needed to demand the attention I needed. I really took that to heart. And I am glad I did.
 
Glad to hear it turned out ok. Things like that are never fun. In bold above is exactly correct. My orthopedic oncologist told me very succinctly that I needed to take control of my medical care. He said in the long run doctors have so much going on and so much pressure they can't give the individual attention the way they once could, so I needed to demand the attention I needed. I really took that to heart. And I am glad I did.

Great, great advice.
 
Great, great advice.

It was....but it lead to some funny things too. I had one regimen of chemo that required an antidote (I know right?) and I thought about what my doctor had told me so I hounded the nurses to make sure I didn't miss the antidote dose. One of them got so used to me calling in the middle of the night that when I called for another issue she picked up and said "no I didn't forget your meds in the last 10 minutes". LOL

They were very cool about it. They understood. But it was pretty funny.
 
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