Hi Kelly,
I can totally get your frustrations and rants, I feel the same way!! I searched and searched as well as spoke to All of my doctors that I regularly have to see. I pretty much set up my LLMD appt. on my own without waiting for my reg. doc. to do it for me. The great thing was, I didn't need a referral.
Wow!!! I just typed and typed and lost all of it!!! THAT IS SO FRUSTRATING!!! Forget what else I was going to say, because now I can't remember!! LOL
Good luck on your appt. and the best thing to do is know in your heart that YOU Understand their approach and if its not going to be beneficial to you, than that is your answer... move on to the next..
I am rooting for ya!!
Hugs,
Pam
House,
I hear you. In your situation, I'd go to the ID doc and let him/her do his/her thing and see where it goes. If the doc is a progressive thinker, you'll know, and likewise, if the doc is a stick in the mud, you'll find that out too without having to confront the doc.
One of the really strange things about Lyme is that it is very difficult if not impossible to have open and honest conversations with docs about their treatment philosophy and approach -- such are the politics of Lyme. I learned to read up ahead of time before an appointment with a new doc, listen at the appointment, ask some neutral questions like "I have heard some people say they were treated with months of antibiotics. Does that happen?" And then listen to what response is.
Docs are not big on being challenged, and the topic of Lyme makes them very huffy. So I'd just play along, and if the doc doesn't have the attitude you like, then quietly find another doc. You may need the nonLLMD at some point in the future, so no sense in confrontation and ill feelings. NonLLMDs don't take disagreement as healthy discussion; they take it as an invitation to malpractice due to the split in the medical community about Lyme. Lyme is a very very odd area of medicine right now, and though I am a very upfront person, I learned not to be with Lyme docs -- it's all politics, and what's important is that you have access later to these unenlightened docs if you need them again, even if right now you think you would not want to see them again ever. Ya never know, esp if you are in an area where you don't have dozens of docs to choose from in the various specialties.
It's ridiculous, I know, but that's where Lyme is right now: smack between a rock and hard place. And one final thing: the docs, fearing accusations of malpractice and losing referrals from other docs and maybe even getting cut off by their medical referral network or group, may well not want to say anything progressive about Lyme diagnosis and treatment that you could then innocently repeat to other docs. Word gets around, and self preservation is real high on doc's list of things to do every day. Otherwise all those years in medical school and training are >pfffft< gone, and the career too.
Feel free to vent to us, but think self-preservation when dealing with the docs -- that's my personal view ... but yours may differ! Take care --
Hey Kelly,
I like your attitude.
You got to read my reply from yesterday "Fibromyalgia... Is this the end?"
at the Fibromyalgia Community.
It offers some interesting facts on what sufferers are up against.
Take care and I hope you find a good LLMD.
You can beat this thing!
Post again and let us know how you're doing.
Niko