I thought I had finally found the right doctor to help me manage my fibromyalgia. The first appointment went very well despite the fact that I was there for a total of eight hours. She listened to me. She believed me. She cared. She even wrote me some prescriptions to help me with the pain. Then she ordered a bunch of blood work and told me to come back a week after the blood work was done.
That's when things got a bit out of hand. When I called to make my next appointment I was told that she was booked up. The next opening would make my second appointment about two months after the first one. Okay, I guess I can deal with that if I have to. She is a good doctor and in high demand so I tried to be reasonable.
They day of my appointment I was called by the doctor's office. I was told that since I had an hours drive to get there, they wanted to let me know that 11 people were ahead of me and the doctor wasn't in yet so I should call before I left the house. Wow! 11 people and no doctor?
So I called when I was ready to leave and was told that the doctor still wasn't in. I needed to call in about two and a half hours. By then it would be 4:00 and I had to drive an hour to get there! Since I wanted to know my test results I agreed and my head started to pound from stress.
About 2:45 they called to tell me they had to cancel because the doctor was sick. Could I come in on the 24th instead at 1:00? Okay, I can do that. After all, doctors get sick too.
This brings us to yesterday. I called to be sure the doctor was in and everything was on schedule. They told me I had no appointment. I almost cried. It has been almost three months since my first and only visit to this doctor. I think it is time to find a new one. But where to start?
I have found a few places that help people find doctors who treat fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. There really aren't any in my neck of the woods, but this may be helpful to all of you.
- FMS.org has a listing by state of patient recommended doctors
- Co-Cure.org also has an up to date list of doctors
- About.com has some great tips on finding a doctor
- Joining the Fibromyalgia Network gives you access to physician referrals
(Image courtesy of Stock Xchng; Photographer: Sanja Gjenero)
2 comments:
Dr. Teitelbaum has a couple of things to help with finding a doc and treatment on his site at http://www.endfatigue.com/. Under "Diagnosis and Treatment" there is the Online Program which I found to be very helpful (and it's free!), and the Find a Practitioner link to the Fibro and Fatigue Centers, and to the Practitioner Referral List.
Good luck! I'm sure you can have the results of your blood work transferred to your new doc.
I suffer from multiple autoimmune diseases, and also had a very hard time finding a doctor who could help me. The truth is there aren't that many doctors who really have a good grasp of these conditions. It took me YEARS to find my doctor, but he was worth the wait. I found him through an online support group for one of my conditions. Referrals are the way to go when trying to find a great doctor.
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