6:13 p.m. - 2003-07-23
I hate doctors. Seriously, I hate them.
Ok, folks. I'm pissed off and angry and sick, and I'm just tired of dealing with this. The following letter, which I wrote early this morning after coming back from a disastrous emergency room visit, is all the reasons in a nutshell why I just don't bother to go to doctors anymore even though I still have problems with lupus and epilepsy. I can take care of my problems far better than they can. They are a complete and total waste of time. I am healthier when I'm not seeing doctors. Not to mention way less pissed off and frustrated.
Here's the letter:
"July 23, 2003
Patient Ombudsman
Crestwood Medical Center
1 Hospital Drive
Huntsville, AL 35801
Dear Sir or Madame,
I am writing to you because I have just returned from a visit to your Emergency Room. I was, to be blunt, appalled by the care I received.
I came to the emergency room at the insistence of my husband, who was distressed because I had woken up with blood coming out of my ear. Since I had been having a feeling that my ears were blocked for several weeks, and also had been having frequent unexplained fevers, he felt I should see someone immediately.
To be honest, I did not feel this warranted an emergency room visit, but as the bleeding would not stop and my husband was quite distressed, I agreed to go anyway.
My problem was not with the wait to see the doctor, which was very short. It was also not with the people who initially checked me in. Those people were very caring and did their jobs in an excellent manner. In fact, I wish I had gotten their names so that I could tell you the good experiences I had with them.
My problem was with the doctor, Henry Gaillard. From the moment he walked into the room, mumbled his name, and asked �So�..now what�s the problem? Are you having some ear problem or something?�, I could tell that he had not even glanced at my chart, and really couldn�t give a damn what was going on with me. He did the most cursory exam and announced that I had �been jamming a Q-tip down� my ear. When I told him I had not, in fact, been jamming a Q Tip down my ear, he informed me that I had an ear abrasion and that my eardrums were fine.
�You aren�t having any other symptoms are you?� he asked, accusingly.
If he had read my chart he would have seen that I have had blocked ears and a temperature, and that since the bleeding started my left ear was now feeling unblocked, as though something had been opened up when the bleeding commenced. Instead of informing him that he should probably read a patient�s chart before he sees them, I took a deep breath and told him I did, in fact, have other symptoms.
�Well, I don�t know what that is.� he told me grouchily. �You probably have some sinus problem or allergies or some problem like that.�
Some problem that Dr. Gaillard obviously did not give a damn about investigating or fixing, even though it probably would have taken him approximately another three minutes to figure out.
�Could it be pressure on the Eustachian tubes because I�ve been having some muscle spasms in my neck?� I asked.
Dr. Gaillard laughed as though he thought I were an idiot. He told me he�d give me some antibiotic ointment to put in the ear, and left.
When the discharge nurse came in, I told him I was upset and felt the doctor had not done a thing, and had not even seemed to have read my chart or have been listening to me at all. The nurse was concerned and said that if I were still having problems in the morning I should see someone else. �I mean, it�s your ears!� he said.
My sentiments exactly. I know that bleeding ears are, on the scale of things, not the most serious medical problem. However, combined with fevers and a feeling that they are blocked, I do feel that they warrant a more serious look than what I received from Dr. Gaillard. And if nothing else, I at least would expect a little more concern and caring, instead of his �I don�t give a damn, I�m just trying to get through my shift with as little effort as possible� attitude.
And what really irks me is that this visit will probably cost me several hundred dollars, and I still do not have an answer to my problem. I do not have health insurance, and I will now have to go to another doctor in the morning and spend even more money to treat a problem that should have been treated in this very expensive emergency room visit.
Not to mention that it is now 4:18 am, and I still have new blood coming out of my ear. I received no advice from Dr. Gaillard on how to stop this bleeding. Even if this is just an abrasion I find the amount of blood disturbing and should have received some instructions on how long it might last or what was considered acceptable.
Again, I have no problem with the emergency room staff as a whole. In fact, I found them above average, and my initial hopes were that Crestwood would be a good place for me to go for this problem. However, if Dr. Gaillard is any indication of your caliber of physicians, I will not return to Crestwood. I am very angry and upset at this waste of my time and money.
Sincerely,
RuthF."
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