Thursday, January 22, 2009

Concerned doctor

While in the middle of preparing dinner last night, I received a phone call from my neurologist (he'll remain "my" neurologist until such time as we find who better suits our needs). He had some concerns. Here's the abbreviated phone call:

Doctor: [He explained that there was some confusion on some paperwork that he received that made it sound as though I was still on solu-medrol. How many days was I on it for?]

Me: [I explained that I was only on it for 5 days, 1 at the hospital and 4 at home. I thought to myself if he looked at my file, he may have answered that question for himself. But ok.]

Doctor: [Talked a bit more about the confusion.]

Me: [Tried to clear up the confusion.]

Doctor: "How are you feeling? How are your symptoms?" ["indicates exact words]

Me: [I explained that I was feeling much better, that the right side was normal, left side was returning to normal.]

Doctor: "That's great news. Ok. Well, good luck."

Um... good luck? Seriously? There was no question as to whether we'd decided on a treatment plan, whether we'd looked into getting a second opinion. Just luck. Well, had I known that was all I needed...

Good luck.

2 comments:

nikole said...

Ugh. How frustrating. And weird. I'm so sorry.

Do you feel like you need more clarification?

RonP said...

Hello,

I'm sure you are getting lots of well-meant advice. Sorry, but here's some more: there is some evidence that certain bacteria make MS more progressive. Eliminating them can slow the progression.

Here's a link to Sarah Longland's page on her experience. She had an EDSS of 7, now it is 2 or less: http://www.avenues-of-sight.com/Sarahlonglands-MSpages-2.html Her husband is a doctor, and he supervised her treatment. There's further information at http://cpnhelp.org.

I am so sorry this has come to you. My daughter-in-law and my sister-in-law both have MS. It's a tough road.

Also, I have to say: most neurologists seem to choose that specialty because they decided too late that they really didn't want to be a doctor. I hope you can find an exceptional one.