I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: Centers => Dialysis: Doctors => Topic started by: wreepete on July 20, 2006, 03:21:28 PM
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I have to brag about my Nephrologist and the doctors she has referred me to!
I was always sick to my stomach, throwing up, etc.... but my numbers did not reflect that my CKD was bad enough to be causing these problems. I had another Nephrologist that informed me that when the time comes, his office does not offer home hemo dialysis and probably won't. So I went looking for another doctor who offers home hemo as well as a great reputation as a kidney doctor.
Long story short, I found that doctor and dialysis clinic. She sent me to a Gastrologist to check on other possible causes for my stomach problems. We found my gallbladder was full of stones, it was removed 2 weeks ago tomorrow, I had two palups in my colon,and ulcers all over my stomach. After having my gallbladder & palups removed and meds for the ulcers, I feel like great!
When I first met Dr. Shakamuri, I told her I needed her to hook me up w/a new team of "my" doctors to take care of me and my medical issues. I told her I am particular about my doctors and how they treat me and I wanted her to chose doctors that she has history w/that she knows will communicate well w/her. She has done so very well, I wanted to brag about her and the doctors she has sent me to! Dr. Morgan, Dr. Buckalew, Dr. Archer, Dr. Holcomb and I hope I didn't miss anyone.
So if you live near Tyler, Longview, Texas, these are doctors to have, they have been great!
I hope others have or will have as great of a team of doctors as I have!
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I am very happy for you. But one of your doctors' names sounds something like Epoman. Hope he is not in your doctor team!
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I would love to see more people post about good doctors and good dialysis units especially in the States as I am considering moving to the States (in PA, the Philadelphia area) and have no way to find out from Canada about which units and doctors are best.
I hope more people post ;)
Thx wreepete for posting this! I really appreciate it and enjoyed the read!
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I am very happy for you. But one of your doctors' names sounds something like Epoman. Hope he is not in your doctor team!
:( why?
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Just kidding! Didn't think you had a licence to practice medicine. [but I could be wrong]
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Just kidding! Didn't think you had a licence to practice medicine. [but I could be wrong]
Well MY doctor tells me I have an Honorary Doctorate in Nephrology. ;D ;)
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Okay, Dr. Epoman.
*speaking out of the side of my mouth* I got this foot here hurting me. Think you can do something for me, doc? I ain't got no money to give you, but I would appreciate some help. And let us keep it on the qt.
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Okay, Dr. Epoman.
*speaking out of the side of my mouth* I got this foot here hurting me. Think you can do something for me, doc? I ain't got no money to give you, but I would appreciate some help. And let us keep it on the qt.
If you don't have money or insurance, then I will be on the golf course. ;D
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Yea, you are a doctor for real!
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Can I be you "on the take" accountant for your Dr's office Epoman? I will charge outrageous fees and we can split the profits! >:D >:D >:D
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Never found a Great Doctor :-\ Found: not bad Doctors, so so Doctors, Doctors, Bad Doctors then the DANGEROUS Doctors >:(
Now I tell the Doctor what I want him to do for me. Found that the best way, it's much safer ;) as long as you know what to ask for :) Plus what your lab results mean!
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Kevno wrote "Now I tell the Doctor what I want him to do for me. Found that the best way, it's much safer as long as you know what to ask for Plus what your lab results mean!"
That's it all in a nut shell! Alway; keep learning, researching, asking questions etc... that's the way to survive and thrive when you have any chronic condition! I research anything and everything.
My doctor's appreciate my efforts and honesty and forwardness when it concerns my health and medical condition. I have just been very fortunate!
I'd love to read more about other's doctors' experiences too! :)
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Great doctors? From southern California here are the names of some nephrologists for you. Pitts, Gandhi, Assomull, and Desai. If you are lucky enough to have any of these guys on your side you are doing very well indeed!
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Still could not fully trust them. I still would be double checking everything they did for me. Had too many SO CALLED GREAT DOCTORS mess up. One Doctor who patients think is the Greatest, once nearly killed me with a tablet he stopped. Now that Doctor is in charge of four renal units. All four are a lot closer to the one I am going to. I will never go to a unit that he is the Doctor in charge. It is my fault I have never complained about any medical staff that have made an mistake, and over the years there has been quite a few serious ones made.
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Still could not fully trust them. I still would be double checking everything they did for me. Had too many SO CALLED GREAT DOCTORS mess up. One Doctor who patients think is the Greatest, once nearly killed me with a tablet he stopped. Now that Doctor is in charge of four renal units. All four are a lot closer to the one I am going to. I will never go to a unit that he is the Doctor in charge. It is my fault I have never complained about any medical staff that have made an mistake, and over the years there has been quite a few serious ones made.
:o wow
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That is the reponce I get from a few patients WOW! To me no such thing as a Great Doctor, Only a Doctor or below in some cases. Even then I am very wary. I know a Doctor is only human. I have met some who think they were above human, soon shot them down. Aways double checking what he/she prescribes/does for me.
I know this might not sound right because on one hand they are keeping me alive. But I could never fully trust a Doctor/Surgeon again. Always I need to be checking. The way I did with my leg. If up to Surgeon my leg would have been amputated on the 10th April 2006. But I said No. Now it is getting a lot better. Now I am walking without a stick.
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If up to Surgeon my leg would have been amputated on the 10th April 2006. But I said No. Now it is getting a lot better. Now I am walking without a stick.
Wow that is good! Congrats to sticking up for yourself and now being able to walk just fine :)
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I would love to see more people post about good doctors and good dialysis units especially in the States as I am considering moving to the States (in PA, the Philadelphia area) and have no way to find out from Canada about which units and doctors are best.
I hope more people post ;)
Thx wreepete for posting this! I really appreciate it and enjoyed the read!
I have an excellent nephrology team. I really like them and they have a lot of experience plus they actually listen to me when I have concerns and questions.
Ackad, Alexander S, MD - Bergen Hypertension & Renal (he's the leader of the team)
20 Prospect Ave Ste 709
Hackensack, NJ 07601View Map
201 678 0300
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That is the reponce I get from a few patients WOW! To me no such thing as a Great Doctor, Only a Doctor or below in some cases. Even then I am very wary. I know a Doctor is only human. I have met some who think they were above human, soon shot them down. Aways double checking what he/she prescribes/does for me.
I know this might not sound right because on one hand they are keeping me alive. But I could never fully trust a Doctor/Surgeon again. Always I need to be checking. The way I did with my leg. If up to Surgeon my leg would have been amputated on the 10th April 2006. But I said No. Now it is getting a lot better. Now I am walking without a stick.
I'm the same way Keveno. I don't trust any of them. They may keep me alive, but plenty of them have also tried to kill me.
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I have great respect for my neph. He takes time and really listens and addresses my concerns. If he doesn't immediately have an answer for me, he will research and call me at home. I started with a different doctor in the office, did not care for his attitude and was able to choose one who more suited me. The staff is wonderful. Never have to wait for my appointment. Also, my transplant team at UNC have been exceptional. I am beginning to realize that my situation may be unusual. I credit all my medical team for keeping me going and for seaching for solutions for me.
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There are 5 nephrologist in my unit and they are all super! When I first took sick 17 years ago there was only 1 neph, whom I lost a lot of respect for back then. It was a friday not long after starting dialysis, i was in hospital, and he was wanting to send me home. I kept telling him i was not feeling well, lots of abdominal pain whenever i ate or sat up and frequent vomiting. He told me it was from drinking too much tea and to limit my intake, I did not buy this. Due to me feeling so unwell, he told me I could put the weekend in at the hospital then go home on monday. Well, needless to say I did not make it home on the monday, matter a fact I did not make it home until 2 months later. On the friday I was to go home was when i started vomiting coffee grounds, not long after starting dialysis that morning. So we soon found out it was not "tea" causing my problems, it was a servere bleeding ulcer. That nephrologist later came to me an aoplogized many times and said they almost lost me. I also had many nurses come to me too and tell me they really didn't think I was going to make it. I'm so happy to still be here ;D
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I have had my share of doctors who later were proven wrong. Sure they are only human but if they would only listen. A lot of them feel that they went through school and we didn't. But we DO know our bodies!
Infact, if it wasn't for the doctor I had when I was a baby .. the Nephrologist when I was 16 told me that I would have still have my original kidneys today and they would be still 100% fine. The doc I had as a baby had yelled at my mom over the phone saying she was an over-worrying first time mother. My mom's mom died before I was born so she had no one to turn to. My reflux could have been reversed.
Oh well. What can you do after the fact? My Nephrologist I had when I was 16 was amazing! If memory serves me right, he was so good because his son had renal disease as well.
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Sad isn't it Angie, to think an error put us in this condition. I was given a medication I was allergic to that I truly believe was the cause of my kidney failure, Glomerialnephritis. My family doctor at the time even agreed this would have been the cause, along with my pharmacist. But the damage has been done, so all we can do now is move on and be thankful for what we "do" have, our cherished families and friends.
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Where I'm at there are 5 doctors and they rotate on a 3 month basis.
Which I guess is a good thing if you don't like the doctor but
a bad thing if you do. I'd rather have my choice of which one I'd
prefer to see. One always talks to the nurse as if I'm not there.
I haven't seen my original neph since January. Probably won't see him til April.
I don't know if that's how all clinics are.
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Where I'm at there are 5 doctors and they rotate on a 3 month basis.
Which I guess is a good thing if you don't like the doctor but
a bad thing if you do. I'd rather have my choice of which one I'd
prefer to see. One always talks to the nurse as if I'm not there.
I haven't seen my original neph since January. Probably won't see him til April.
I don't know if that's how all clinics are.
There are 3 Nephrologists for my unit and they rotate as well. But I only see each one once a month.
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I have great respect for my neph. He takes time and really listens and addresses my concerns. If he doesn't immediately have an answer for me, he will research and call me at home. I started with a different doctor in the office, did not care for his attitude and was able to choose one who more suited me. The staff is wonderful. Never have to wait for my appointment. Also, my transplant team at UNC have been exceptional. I am beginning to realize that my situation may be unusual. I credit all my medical team for keeping me going and for searching for solutions for me.
Maybe NC breads good doctors. Mine is great as well. He's called me at home several times when he's been concerned about me. He has spent hours answering questions from both me and my husband as well as given me his cell and home phone numbers. If you're in Eastern NC, call Dr. Maxwell Fisher. He rocks!
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Until now two docs have had a major impact on my health and quality of life, for better or worse. The first one was my former GP, a money-grabbing doc who never had time for me, told me several times I had pneumonia when I had KIDNEY FAILURE for crying out loud! And then he actually told me I was cured of my pneumonia even though I felt like s**t. That was a few days before I was put on emergency dialysis (yes, with a catheter in my neck *sigh*). From then on I was under the supervision of current neph and his assistants, and the contrast is pretty amazing. Not only does he have a much more professional and thorough approach but he always takes the time to explain every facet of the disease and the treatments that I have to undergo. He is always warm and friendly and he inspires trust. He is also a university professor and he is responsible for the hospital's nephrology research program. All in all I don't think I could be in better hands. Even though I'm on dialysis I feel good and my blood work has been near perfect for the past couple of years. I owe this doc a great deal.
In the beginning I would curse my former GP all the time and myself for listening to him, but nowadays I guess what's done is done and it's better to focus on the future.
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It's been awhile since anyone posted here, but I wanted to put in my :twocents;. As was stated before, NC must breed good doctors, because that's where I had the best nephrologist I've ever had (and I've had a lot!!).
Dr. Graham Byrum in Greenville, NC always sat down and LISTENED to me, TALKED to me until he was sure I understood, and TRUSTED me to make decisions about MY health. One of the things I've read over and over in here is doctors and units calling patients non-compliant for not taking BP meds when they don't need it. Dr. Byrum told me after I called two or three separate times about low BP that if I felt my BP was low or normal, then he trusted me to make that judgment, and he simply gave me a range of dosages to keep it in. I never had to call him about that again...saved us both a lot of time, and freed up time for more important issues.
I have to say, though, there was one doctor in his practice I couldn't stand. I was actually seeing this other doctor until I met Dr. Byrum when I was admitted to the hospital with chicken pox at age 24. This other doc would never talk to you, always at you; when visiting in the hospital, sat where you could not see him from the hospital bed; and those weren't even his worst sins. I should have known the first time I met him...he was asking me about when I first got sick, and a lot of the questions, I was answering with "I don't know", because gee, I was 9 months old when I first got sick. He asked me another question and said, "oh wait, let me guess, I don't know." After that, I learned all I could about my illness and never let an opportunity to let docs know that I know all about it go by.
Anyway, I moved from NC because I left my husband, and Dr. Byrum is about the only thing I miss about that place!
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It seems that doctor quality can vary from one extreme to the other in one organization. One good example is my nephrologist who by good fortune turned out to be someone I could trust to do the right thing from day one through transplant and now years later as the guy who does all of my followups.
In the same organization are other really good people like my transplant coordinator who I've also known from the beginning. Besides handling transplant stuff, she's been someone who has helped with a myriad of other details and issues over an 8 1/2 year relationship. I couldn't have come to where I am now without her.
My primary care doc is a guy who leaves no stone unturned. When problems develop he'll order any and all necessary tests and will provide all needed referrals to other providers as necessary. That guy has been a gem. I like him so much that he treats the whole family now. We've all profited from his determination to do the job right, his excellent bedside manner, and his high level of availability when needed.
On the other hand in that organization have been a couple of endocrinologists that I'm basically able to live without. They do what is minimally necessary and are not what I would call very accommodating.
So..you can get all ends of the spectrum under one roof. Fortunately, in our case most of our providers have been good ones.