Big question after Physical therapy today. Doctors??

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I have been seen by a lot of doctors. Well me and my physical therapist today were talking and she asked why my urology appointments are stopping. Well truth is that my urologist has done nothing for me. Not one test, Nothing. All we did was talk about what was going on.


My big problem right now is that is all my doctors have been doing.

They send me off to physical therapy and hope for the best.

The only doctors that have done anything for me are my gastroenterologist (And the physicians assistant got me on all the medications that I am and not my main GI doctor) And also my colorectal surgery doctor has done procedures (Botox in my one bowel muscle)


Other than the odd colonoscopy and endoscopy nothing else has been done and my physical therapist is mad about that.

She feels like she is the only one right now trying to get me answers and she is right.

I don't get to see my doctors enough so that is part of it but I feel like I am just a number to them. Most of them have not even noted everything going on with me so.

I am going to be reaching out to my patient advocate again this week coming to see what should be happing because my PT feels like not enough is being done.

 

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Glad you have a patient advocate coming on scene. And the support of the PT.

 

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@ThatFLGuy I can relate - throughout my Long Covid ordeal the only people that have been monitoring my condition and providing any relief have been my osteopaths/physios. Doctors don't like it when you don't respond to the normal treatments and can't identify the cause of issues easily; you just end up being stuck in limbo.

I really get the thing about being a number - my notes are shocking as well. The issue is here that it's so hard to get an appointment over the phone, let alone a face to face one so I've had to throw money at it managing it myself but they don't like it when you buy your own aids etc. However, it's a catch 22, how are you supposed stuff put on your notes if they never see you?

Glad you've got a patient advocate sorted out. I'm going to be making a formal complaint against my GP and the surgery for everything over the last couple of months. The problem is that it's a constant fight to get the treatment you need and it's just so exhausting.

 

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I don't know how it is in the States, but in Germany the problem with doctors is almost the same. In the public health care system, the health insurance companies pay about 12 € for a normal visit to a GP (examinations are paid extra). The GP calculates about 7 minutes for a visit - to still make money with it.

You can imagine what diagnoses are possible in 7 minutes. So everything that is a bit more complicated will not be found or will be treated wrongly. The idea is of course that many earn from it - so the general practitioner will send you to a specialist - but for the specialist it is the same - he just gets a little bit more money for the 7 minutes...

From my point of view, there are basically only two ways out of this dilemma: either you pay privately and get more time, or you do the job yourself and just discuss the treatment. But that's also a little bit difficult.... The health care system is basically a for-profit organization. In fact, it has a pretty high percentage of GDP. So you should keep in mind that not everything that helps this industry helps you. In fact, there is little interest in finding a cure for a disease if you can make more money from the drugs that suppress the effects.