Improvement in condition after finding a doctor "you like"...

[eva b]

What an interesting point you made in your reply on another thread about MGD and Restasis.

I totally agree that there are many patients (me included) who do much better when the doctor explains what/why/when they are doing rather than treating you like a small ignorant child who couldn't possibly grasp the complexity of what they are doing. And this type of attitude makes the patient feel even worse, helpless and hopeless.

I can tell you with my hand on my heart that the honest, open and detailed answers I've had to my questions from the dedicated experts like yourself on this forum have made my eyes feel better without any actual physical treatment having taken place...

So please accept our thanks for your time and your trouble - as I posted previously, I wish I lived in the US where you are all available, rather than in London, where even the specialists in the alleged top eye hospital in the world have sent me off feeling as if there's nothing much they can do for me and I'm really on my own!

[NYer]

But Eva, the Euro is worth more than the dollar now, so you can just buy a nice apartment here to come visit us once in a while and maintain your English estate, too!
(I have an image of you living in one of those sprawling Enlish countryside mansions, like in "Pride and Prejudice" - please don't disillusion me, LOL)

[Justin]

Powerful Post Eva...thanks. I have the pleasure of saying that it is a mutually beneficial exchange and you just made my day a whole lot better!

[Plynn]

Dr. Bazan,
First I just wanted to thank you for your time on this board. I am new to this, but good information is vital.

Does it help to have a doctor you like? Yes, that is true, but also complicated. Good personalities and competence don't always go hand in hand, but it is great when they do.

I live in a small town, so I know most of the eye doctors here. They are all in a large practice. It is always very crowded, and feels impersonal. Still, the doctors are well trained, and excellent clinicians. That is reassuring.

One of the casualties of managed care is less time with patients. Getting any kind of diagnosis that requires long term management is stressful and frightening. Patients have access to the internet now, and can read valuable information, but also things that scare the daylight out of anyone. It takes a reassuring and experienced doctor to put it all in perspective.

Add managed care to the current malpractice climate, and another casualty is a fractured doctor-patient relationship. Yes, this is what you touched on, and it is important to healing. It is also important to the doctor- is that not one reason you went into the medical field?

So yes, having a doctor you like, one who spends time with you, is important to healing. However, a relationship goes two ways. Doctors are human too, and not just commodities, and I think having less time to spend also takes a toll on them. When a doctor takes time with us, and really appears to care, it makes an enormous difference.

Thank you again for your time and insights.

Plynn

[eva]

Hi all,

I am "eva" from Toronto, Canada.

you are 100% right about doctors. I am a patient at a teaching hospital for SS in Toronto and the doctor is excellent but has the bedside manners of a slug.

I did not get dry eye symptoms until things were so drastic that from one day to the next I couldn't read the paper - that was my clue something was wrong.

So without going into every detail, my blood test showed Sjogren Sydrome and I got help right away - when this doctor asked me if my eyes felt like it had sand in them, I told him I did not get those symptoms.

So he turned to the 3 student doctors in the room and explained to them that a small number of people with SS have "insensitive corneas" so they don't feel symptoms and their corneas dry out and then it becames a bit of a crisis situation.

Talking about INSENSITIVE - Since I replied to his question about not feeling anything, I thought he should be replying to ME - not ignoring me and treating me like "exhibit A" ; Since the student doctors were in the same room, I am sure they would have benefited from the answer if it was addressed to me.

Afterward, I thought I was being petty and discussed it with a doctor friend who agreed with me.

So sometimes, doctors can be competent (this doctor is) but they should go back to medical school for a course in Sensitivity Training 101.

eva