Doctor Inexperience

[bunkywoo]

Wanted to share this funny/irritating story about my dr who treated me for 6 months. Doctor returned my call yesterday (while I was at work) about my Heptimax and SGOT results. He said he had the SGOT results & asked me what the other test was. I told him Heptimax and I swear I had to repeat myself 3 times because he didn't know what I was talking about. When I first requested the Heptimax test 6 months ago he had never even heard of it so I faxed him some info from Quest's web-page and then he wrote my script. Being at work and not wanting to blurt out exactly what it was, I had to say HEP C under my breath. It just blew me away that this guy still didn't know what the Hepitmax test was, even though he should have had the previous test results in my chart and he sounded totally clueless as to what this test could possibly be for, even though HEP C was the only thing he ever treated me for.

I guess my point in posting this is to tell everyone that some dr's do not know all and if you can help educate them from information you gather from other sources, the better it is for you. My doc is a GI and I would have hoped he would stay current with research, meds and tests. My whole tx I had to monitor my blood counts and request Neupogen to stay on tx when by WBC got too low. And not once did I ever hesitate to keep calling for my test results if they didn't call me first. I figured this is my life and if they get pissed off at me for calling so much - so be it!

Test results weren't in anyways so the wait is still ongoing...

Feel Good --- Laurie

[Indiana]

Unfortunately your story is not all that unusual to see around here. It seems that doctor errors happen to Hcv folks all the time. We are constantly seeing people post their horror stories about how they truted their Doctors.......only to find out that the tests were interprated wrong, they were given the wrong doses, their meds were not refilled, they were told to stop based on faulty information, or they were told they could wait and now they have MAJOR damage and/or Cirrhosis.
This is why I just "Cringe" when I hear folks tell of how they put all their faith in the doctors. It is also why we tell everybody to get copies of ALL their tests and do their own research on Hcv to learn how to read their own results. To take part on your own tx is so very important.
GI's are NOT necessarily specialists in Hcv. Their practice is with the whole GI area and takes in a whole lot of different things. Most do not research just Hcv like we do. Many are not up on the latest treatments and news. It is up to us to research and educate first ourselves and then them by being armed with papers and questions when we see them. I think my doc actually studied up before my appointments because he knew I would be comming in with research papers and information to discuss. His office also automatically had all my test results copied cuz they new I would be wanting them. My notebook on myself was better organized than theirs was and came with me to every appointment. I even consulted with a second GI and often had the 2 of them talk my tx over when a difference of opinion occurred.
It would be a wonderful world if we could all simply trust our doctors and their offices.....But ya just can't.