I agree with you Judy about the ignorant people out there. Dale's knee doc needs to be taken out to pasture. Although, I did have knee surgery last year, my doc was great.
During my discogram, they put me to sleep to insert the needles then woke me when pressurizing/putting the dye in. First one no pain, the next 2. HOLY COW! The doc then asked me to look to my right and he explained the xray to me, starting with the first disc and moving to the others that looked different, obviously. lol The doc that told me that "I had nothing to say about the discogram, was one of the very well educated and probably talented, very ignorant people that roam the earth by day and night.
Now on to my 3rd opionion. Didn't work out quite the way I expected but better. This is a family practice that I had been to off and on for the last 12 years. My original doc had moved on. My thought process was that I had 2 confirmations from reputable specialist. Now I wanted a regular doc to look and see what the thought was. I arrived early because I wanted to get it done and over with because I fasted the night before, because I turned this into a full physical, "TBI said that would be helpful for pre-op". The receptionist was awesome, could tell that I was not normal. She said, did you fast? Yes, Maam. Do you like coffee? Yes, Maam. Then she said excuse me, walked into the back and returned with a delicious cup of black coffee. She said, you look like you could use this. Best cup of coffee I've had in a long time. At any rate. I get called back to the exam room, the nurse does the normal BP and temp, and questions. A short time later the Dr. came in. Exchange of pleasantries, blah, blah, blah. Then started talking about why I was there. I handed her my MRI and CT-Scan results. This is not a young Dr. She told me "I will look at these, and explain to you what I see in the results. I'm guessing that you have been told something that you want to confirm. I have to let you know that I'm not a specialist. Recommendations other than potential physical therapy or chiropractic therapy should be discussed with a specialist in the area that is causing you pain"
I thought I was going to pass out. HOLY COW! No ego, and when she spoke to me she looked me in the eyes and it was evident that not only did she love what she did, but she really did care. She spent almost 1 1/2 hours with me. Very very thorough and had a calming effect. I now have a new primary care provider.
So, now my for my 3rd opinion, I'm going to go the the office that the Dr did my knee surgery. They also have a back specialist. My new Dr. recommended that talk to the knee Dr. prior to surgery. I have bone infarct in both knees. Basically my knees had heart attacks and died, and could potenially collapse. Another constant pain area, but not like the back. Thought my new Dr. had a great idea to have 2 different specialist discuss my situation and make sure that maybe knee replacement might need to be done first. Wouldn't be very nice to have back surgery and then one of my knee's collapse causing major probs or potentially failed back surgery. I'm sure glad that there are lots of people out there that are much smarter than me. LOL. Will keep you posted, and thanks for the replies. Hope all is well.
J
|