horrible Dr.!

[nanship]

Hi , I'm not sure where to post this, but I went to the opthamologist yesterday and it was horrible !! I was recently diagnosed with Sjogren's , and made an appointment with this doc months ago before I knew what the problem was .. I went in and the entire staff was rude and uncaring- the dr. just barked orders at me and never smiled once , nor showed any compassion . Did a test with those papers in the eye , pulled them out and waved them at me saying "you don't make ANY tears-none at all " in an accusatory tone ..like I did something to make it so ! It is a good thing my daughter was with me , as I cried for the rest of the afternoon . I know that the docs are not supposed to have to deal with our personal feelings, but this guy was way over the line as far as bad bedside manner , and the staff could have mustered at least a smile or a "Hello " . . He wants to see me in 6 months , and supplied me with a prescription for "restasis" , but I do not want to go back to him ! I guess I have been spoiled with my old optometrist who was really nice and explained every procedure before he performed it , and actually talked to me ! I moved about 18 months ago and can't get to the former optometrist any longer .. Sorry this is so long , but I have never had an experience like this and being emotionally distraught already , I just had to vent to someone who truly might understand (: Thanks and any advice would be apreciated .. I am not sure I want to do the restasis as I have been fairly comfortable with drops and vaporizers , and plan on trying goggles for sunglasses . Thanks again for letting me vent .. Nancy

[Rebecca Petris]

I'm so sorry to hear that.

Switching doctors is always hard - having to basically start from scratch with a new one. A reasonably considerate doctor will at least put out a little effort to put you at ease, and a good practice manager will instill some service ethic in their staff. Looks like this one may a problem on both levels though. Or maybe the doctor was in a bad mood that day and this affected the whole staff.

I don't think it's worth putting yourself through that again, unless you're getting some pretty spectacular care or special services, which it doesn't sound like from your post.

If you feel up to it you might call and ask for the practice manager and tell them exactly what you told us. You'll know by their response if they care. If they don't, well, hard as it is to change doctors, you might just start looking around again.

p.s. I'm moving this to the Open Forum. I know it's a topic others will relate to.

[dianat]

I'm sorry Nancy about your uncaring doctor. They generally don't understand pain and fear. Best of luck with someone else. When I was in need of someone locally, I went so far as to call around and ask whoever answered the phone if the doc was a nice guy. I explained my mental state at the time and made it clear I would need some understanding.

D

[Jeff]

Hi Nancy I am so sorry for this mans apparent rude behavior. When people come in for treatment they are there for help obviously. That doesn't seem to hard to understand. The problem I have is understanding what makes him think you would consider going BACK for round two. You can shear a sheep forever, but you can only skin it once. I can't imagine how long I would be in business if I treated my customers like this.

There are compassionate doctors out there.
Jeff