I'm at a loss

[mudpuppy]

My wife had her AN out at House about a year ago.  We recently had the 1 year MRI, and took them to a our local neurosurgeon (we live on the east coast).  We had seen this doctor when we were originally trying to figure out what to do, and eventually decided that House was the way to go after all of our consults (with various doctors) said surgery was needed.

At the office, we signed in and paid our co-pay.  However, when the Dr saw us, he was very agitated, and refused to be involved with our case.  This is after he has accepted payment and after he has seen the MRI (he had the CD in his computer).

The guys hands were literally shaking when he gave us back the CD and had his office refund our co-pay.

So, now my wife is very confused and upset.  Did we do something wrong?  Did the Dr see something in the MRI that he doesn't want to get involved with?  Is the doctor just acting unethically from a bruised ego?  He absolutely refused to answer any of our questions.

Has anyone had a similar situation?

What would you do?

Thanks,

[leapyrtwins]

mudpuppy -

I have not had a similar situation, but then again the doctor I see is the same one who performed my surgery.

I am just speculating here, but from what you are telling us, it sounds like the doctor is upset that your wife decided to have her AN treated by the docs at House, rather than have him treat it.  Right, wrong, or otherwise, he probably feels that if he wasn't "good" enough to treat her AN, why is he now being asked to review her MRI.  I'm not saying that this doctor is right or wrong.  I'm just giving you my opinion.

Although his behavior is certainly questionable, at least he had the "courtesy" to return your co-pay; another doctor might not have.

If I were in your situation, I'd either a) ask the doctor at House who treated me to look at the MRI; or b) find another doctor in my home town who is willing to review it.

Best of luck,

Jan

[Jim Scott]

Mudpuppy:

Welcome.  Sorry to have to read about this kind of response from a neurosurgeon. 

Going only by what you've stated (the doctor might have a somewhat different story) I'm going to venture a guess that this particular doctor is suffering from a bruised ego based on the fact that he was passed over by you in favor of an out-of-town facility and surgeon....one on the opposite coast.  I'm surprised at his apparent lack of respect for your decision but, unfortunately, some neurosurgeons , just like anyone else you'll meet in life, have gigantic egos and consider not being chosen over a facility 3,000 miles away a huge insult.  He was basically telling you to drop dead...you're not his patient, so get lost.  While that is petty and childish, it happens and frankly, there is little you can do about it.  He's being a jerk - so forget him.  You did nothing wrong, except - in his eyes - not choosing him as your surgeon.  Too bad.  You had the perfect right to do what you considered best for you at the time.  Move on. 

You'll either have to find a more reasonable local neurosurgeon or send your MRI scans to the House Clinic, explaining your inability to persuade your local nuerosurgeon to deal with you.  I think they'll be willing to help you.  Let us know.

Jim 

[Cheryl R]

I have heard another ANer who is in another state and not on this forum say a very similar event happened to her.             Very sad that they have to be this way.                   
After my first surgery I had an ENT take my stitches out at a nearby clinic,  so we didn't have to dribe back 150 miles just for that.       He was not there though when I was having  my 2006 surgery.      There was a new guy there and I had read a bio in a newspaper that he had done a facial nerve fellowship somewhere so I thought he would find me interesting.     I only got to talk to a nurse who said he refused to even see for 6 months after my surgery.              I couln't believe it.      I ended up with problems so wouldn't have ended up going to him after all.     I just went to my regular family dr this time for the stitch removal with no problem.   
I think specialists have more of the ego problem than a family dr just for what I have had to deal with where I worked.            Some orthopedic ones were not easy to get along with either.
                                    Cheryl R

[lori67]

Mudpuppy -

That is very strange to me.  If he was going to refuse to treat your wife, he could have easily had the office staff call you at home prior to your appointment so you didn't have to drive there.  Or he could have informed the receptionist not to collect your co-pay.  And why would he have bothered having the CD in his computer in the first place if he didn't intend to offer any treatment or advice?  In my experience, doctors always get a copy of the schedule of patients for the day first thing in the morning or the night before, so I find it hard to believe he had no idea your wife was on the schedule until the last minute.

I certainly have met my share of doctors that have huge egos, but that doesn't excuse rude and unprofessional behavior.  If there was a legitimate reason he chose not to see your wife, he should have the decency to tell you that.  If he's so sure it's the correct decision, then he should have no problem admitting that.  I would probably call him and ask him to explain what the problem is.  But, that's just me and we all know that I like to poke bears with sticks on occasion.

I'm sure you should be able to send the CD to House to have them review it and I would mention to them what happened at the east coast surgeon.  And at least you can be thankful that you didn't let him operate on your wife - never trust a brain surgeon with shaky hands!

I honestly don't think you did anything wrong.  You have to be able to shop around for the best person to do the job and that surgeon should understand that sometimes, he just isn't going to be the one.

Lori

[Joef]

House would be more that happy to view your MRI's from the mail ....

you doctor should of told you up front BEFORE he took your co-pay.. that's just wrong....

I told my local surgeon that I decided to go to house.. and that I might see him for follow ups said ... No, he would not see me ... at least he told me up front ... I think its a case of you can't have 2 chef's in the kitchen ...

[leapyrtwins]

Lori -

I get what you're saying about the doctor and his schedule, but isn't it possible that this doc had no idea who "patient x" was since he didn't treat her?  Lots of docs see numerous patients and I can't believe that we all stick out in their minds. 

Despite the fact that I've seen my neurotologist lots of times since my diagnosis, he still sometimes forgets what side my AN was on (naturally I tease him that I'm highly offended by this) but we can't expect docs to remember everything.

Perhaps this neurosurgeon didn't realize who mudpuppy's wife was until she showed up for the appointment, at which point he got all flustered and po'd.

I'm not excusing his behavior; I'm just wondering why this doc just didn't have his staff cancel the appointment like you suggest.

BTW, some very good points in your post.  And I'm the type of person who would try to contact the doctor too - just to see if he'd tell me what his issue is.  I guess we both like to "poke bears with sticks" 

Jan

[mudpuppy]

Well, when my wife made her appointment, she was very up front as to what it was about (that the surgery had been done by someone else, and that this was a follow-up).

It's just very strange to get all the way into the doctor's office, and then have him go kind of psycho and refuse to have anything to do with you.  Especially since his previous advice was that we should investigate a few other places until we were comfortable with our course of action.

We were able to get in touch with our doctor at House and he will review the MRIs with us.

[wendysig]

Jan - I'm with you and Lori as I too like to poke bears with sticks, the bigger the better!  It's a shame some docs let their egos get in the way of doing the right thing.  It doesn't say much for them as people.  I have to say, a couple of the doctors I saw when I was going for second and third opinions knew they were not in the running but were still courteous and professional about looking at my MRIs and answering questions.  I now wonder if they'd be that nice if I went back to them after my surgery.

Mudpuppy - Sorry about your experience with your local neurologist.  I guess he felt he had the right to be insulted you didn't  trust him enough to perform your wife's surgery.  Some people with big egos really have no class at all.

Wendy

[leapyrtwins]

Well, when my wife made her appointment, she was very up front as to what it was about (that the surgery had been done by someone else, and that this was a follow-up).

Well, there goes my theory.  This makes the whole experience even stranger, mudpuppy.  I am very puzzled.

As Wendy said, most docs are courteous and professional even if they know they are giving you a 2nd or 3rd opinion and know they are out of the running.  I sent someone from Michigan to my doc's partner, here in Illinois, for a 2nd opinion.   This doc actually told this patient that the 1st doc he consulted with was just as qualified a surgeon as he was and since doc #1 was located in Michigan, he should go there.  How's that for an honest opinion?

I'm glad that your wife's doctor @ House is willing to go over the results with her.  Sounds like he's a class act 

I hope her MRI results are very positive,

Jan (trying to stay away from those bears) oh my! 

[chocolatetruffle]

i am getting my 1 year MRI in Nov and House specifically told me to send it to them for review. Someone at House also told me that some doctors (ego or no ego) will not touch my case due to liabilities issue - not sure if this mean my recovery period timeframe or after?  Anyway, glad to hear it worked out!!  hope the review is a success 

[oHIo]

Jan - I'm with you and Lori as I too like to poke bears with sticks, the bigger the better!  It's a shame some docs let their egos get in the way of doing the right thing.  It doesn't say much for them as people.  I have to say, a couple of the doctors I saw when I was going for second and third opinions knew they were not in the running but were still courteous and professional about looking at my MRIs and answering questions.  I now wonder if they'd be that nice if I went back to them after my surgery.

Mudpuppy - Sorry about your experience with your local neurologist.  I guess he felt he had the right to be insulted you didn't  trust him enough to perform your wife's surgery.  Some people with big egos really have no class at all.

Wendy

I like to wait until the bears are in hibernation, then poke them just to get a response 
Even if Mudpuppy's wife disclosed she had surgery by another doctor, that does not necessariy mean the surgeon got the message until they showed up at the office and he had the films in his computer.  Unfortunately, communication in medical offices can be severly lacking between the scheduler (who may not even be in the same location as the doctor) and the physician.  Doctors, especially surgeons, become very uneasy sometimes about treating patients who have previously been treated, especially when they have had surgery, by another physician.  I believe part of it is ego, but another part is fear of litigation.  An unhappy patient usually names everyone who treated them in their lawsuit, even when the second consulting doctor did nothing wrong.  Doctors do not like to take a chance on cleaning up another doctors bad outcome or postoperatively following a patient who had surgery by someone else.
 
I am not in any way implying Mudpuppy's wife has had a bad outcome.   It appears questionable if the doctor actually reviewed her MRI or just saw her AN is gone by the hands of another doctor and he prefers follow up care to be done by the operating surgeon. 

Personally, I would send the disk to the surgeon at House who did the surgery.  He will know exactly what procedure was done and what he is looking at on the films.  He will be able to answer any questions in reference to the surgery and follow up MRI, because he was the one who was there. 

[leapyrtwins]

oHIo -

looks like we're going to have to start a "Poking Bears with Sticks Club".  Glad you are going to join us 

Thank you for your post.  It puts a different perspective on things by bringing up a couple of points that I never considered.

Didn't really give litigation much of a thought, but it's definitely an issue for most doctors.  I remember when I signed my neurotologist's consent form for my surgery.  He wrote on the form that he was going "to try to remove my acoustic neuroma".  I was shocked    and started a long discussion with him about whether or not he was going to remove my tumor of just "try" to remove it.  IMO it was a sad commentary on the state of healthcare in America and a startling reminder of the large number of malpractice lawsuits out there.

As you point out, communication in doctor's offices can also be an issue.  Every time I schedule an appointment with any of my doctors, I'm asked for the "purpose" of my visit, yet every time the doctor walks into the exam room he asks me the very same thing    Somebody's not talking to somebody here 

Jan

 

[oHIo]

Jan...in the large group practice where I work, patients are scheduled through a scheduling center that isn't even located in the same building.  The scheduler takes the patients word for whatever they say they are coming in for.  The visit may be listed as a post op visit, although the patient had surgery somewhere else and is not coming in for that at all.  Things may go through many channels before they ever reach us, the actual medical professionals.

Your doctor probably asks why you are there (even though you have explained it to other people) because many people do not want to talk about their health concern to anyone other than the doctor.  People lie and say they are there for one reason, the doctor walks in and they have a totally different story for the doctor.  I could write a book. 

Truly, fear of litigation has changed the way many doctors practice. 

[wendysig]

oHIo -
Thanks for your input.  I never considered the possibility that the doctor might be concerned with the possibility of litigation, should anything go or have gone wrong.  I have to agree with Jan



"Didn't really give litigation much of a thought, but it's definitely an issue for most doctors.  I remember when I signed my neurotologist's consent form for my surgery.  He wrote on the form that he was going "to try to  remove my acoustic neuroma".  I was shocked    and started a long discussion with him about whether or not he was going to remove my tumor of just "try" to remove it.  IMO it was a sad commentary on the state of healthcare in America and a startling reminder of the large number of malpractice lawsuits out there.

As you point out, communication in doctor's offices can also be an issue.  Every time I schedule an appointment with any of my doctors, I'm asked for the "purpose" of my visit, yet every time the doctor walks into the exam room he asks me the very same thing)  Somebody's not talking to somebody here)"

Wendy