Attention Weston and All Firing My New GI Doc (Recommended By Dr. Lehman!)

[Guest guest]

When I had the sphincterotomies back in August I had asked Dr.

Lehman (who is think is the ABSOLUTE BEST don't get me wrong!)for

names of good GIs in my area of RI or MA. He gave the name of one

and off I went...well, first visit (which of course was scheduled

for the end of Sept!) I was relatively impressed by him and he had

said that if I wasn't better by me second appt with him that I

probably was never going to get better and that he'd sign on to the

federal employee disability retirement papers I need in order to

apply (which I'm in the process of now). Go to second appt, not

better, give him the paper work and two days later his Nurse Prac.

calls me and says he can't sign them because I'd only seen him

twice....ok, guess I can understand that but why did he say that

then? She mails the paperwork back to me...at lightening speed I

might add...when I call and tell him I'm going to the ER or am VERY

ill, he either never calls me back (in fact, he himself, has NEVER

called me back - it's always the nurse pract.) OR she calls back in

2 or 3 days!!! Lsat time I went my hubby had me taken up there by

limo (he couldn't get the day off....no friends could take me,

daughter couldn't take me, etc., etc. So, I go in the limo, SO

nauseated I can barely make it there (this was in the middle of the

constipation issue (unbeknownst to me at the time that that was what

was causing it.) I go, he basically tells me nothing, except to

drink the bottle of magnesium citrate to clear myself out. Well, I

do that, and it sends me into the WORST case of pancreatitis I've

ever had!! Call them, 2-3 days later in the middle of the 8 days

from hell....they call back and tell me there's really nothing they

can do. So, I suffer and suffer and finally come out of it on my

own with a trip to the ER on Halloween night...hubby and son

accompany me and my son never gets to go trick or treating because

of it....I go for my 4th appt last week and guess what he says

now?? He says that he " doesn't know where my pain is coming from,

it's certainly not the pancreas, nor the biliary tract....he just

doesn't know. I ask him if he has other patients like me, he says,

yes, but none on as much narcotics as I'm on (with a slight sneer on

his face.) I ask him if he will now fill out the paperwork...he

says, yes, but it probably won't help you much because the

diagnosis I'm giving it is " chronic abdominal pain of unknown

etiology. " HUH??? I tell him about Dr. Lehman (of which he has

attended MANY lectures by Dr. L)....what about the sphincterotomy?

Well, he says " your pressures weren't high enough in my opinion to

have performed the sphincterotomies " . What about the dx of SOD?

Well, he says...very controversial, not what your problem is. I

ask, then why did Dr. L feel that he needed to perform the

sphincterotomy...well, he says, I wouldn't have with the

numbers/pressure you had. I said, well, what about biliary

dyskenesia? No, he said...there is NOTHING wrong with anything in

your pancreas OR your biliary tract!! The ONLY good thing about

that visit that left me in tears all the way home by myself

driving...is that he said he'd do his best to word the paperwork in

such a way that blah, blah, blah.....SOOOOOOO, I come home totally

freaked out. Call Dr. Lehman's office (I sent the same paperwork to

him to fill out)....Joycelynn (the nurse) says " Oh hello , we

sent out your paperwork in the mail today. " I ask, what is the dx

on it? Dr. L put " The cause of 's pain chronic abdominal pain

could be (and that's the only part that's bothering me the is

the " could be " part..hope it flies with the ret. disability

approving office AND SSDI approving office) chronic pancreastitis,

SOD (!!), scarring, and biliary dyskenesia!!! Thank you God!!! I'm

so glad I called Dr. L's office....here I am in tears because this

doc is saying he doesn't know what/where my chronic abdominal pain

is coming from and Dr. L's office gives me the dx of the above. CAn

you believe it??? I will probably HAVE to include the A** doc's

paperwork only because if I don't it's going to show a big gap from

the sphincterotomies and seeing a GI. Not to mention that when they

request my records, his stuff will undoubtedly be in there anyway.

SOOOO (sorry for my long winded email but you guys must be used to

me by now!! LOL!) I place another call back to Dr. L's office but

this time I get the machine because it's after 4pm there...I leave

the msg that I would kindly like to ask Dr. L if there is a GI that

he knows of in my area that specializes in the pancreas and then

proceed to tell him everything that the new GI doctor said. I don't

like to bash docs to other docs...but this was just unreal to me!!!

I want to see what his thoughts are on why he may have said what he

did particularly since he was the doc Dr. L recommended to me in my

area?!?!? My PCP filled out the paperwork...although he refused to

write a narrative on his letter head stationery (which for some

reason the fed ret. disability wanted (and stated as much on the

front of the questionaire I gave him.) I basically used a form that

is used to give to the regular SSDI disability....I took out some

things and tailored to my problems because I knew that he wouldn't

write it out in narrative format because he had previously told me

that. Anyway, his was chronic abdominal pain, BUT he threw in a

bunch of stuff that I would think will help me get the ret. dis.,

such as multiple ER visits, pain meds make it that I can't

concentrate on a financial type job, can't sit or stand or do

anything for over an hour or so and other stuff like that. He

worded things pretty well though so I am pretty sure it will help

me. One thing tho that I didn't quite understand was his

prognosis...he wrote: good as far as mortality and fair as far as

morbidity. Does anyone know what morbidity means?

Anyway, what do you guys make of this? Please let me know ok???

The only doc that seems to be of any help to me lately is the new

pain doc I went to...not a very good bedside manner but a pretty

good doc so far anyway.

Thanks so much for any and all replies!