Sleep apnea patient abandonment? Anyone experienced it?

davebolin · Post by **davebolin** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 6:16 pm

I have never seen a sleep doctor. I had to pressure my PCP for a sleep study and after that the sleep center sent the results to my PCP. He wrote the prescription and the only inquiry I have ever had on the subject was one "oh' are you still doing that?" question and that was it for the past 3 years. I have had to learn everything on my own mainly by reading this forum. The only other time anyone checked on me was a compliance request for my data card by Lincare at the 6 month point. I learned a long time ago I have to be the doctor.

MrGrumpy · Post by **MrGrumpy** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 8:25 pm

No, he cared. Trust me, I could tell. He was visibly angry and slammed the door on the way out. He was not used to being talked to that way by his patients, I could tell.

On the other hand, he long had given me the impression he did not like his job, did not like medicine. He was a foreign trained doctor and Ive learned a long time ago foreign trained doctors usually are among the worst. Many come from non Western cultures where they are basically pushed into medicine because of family pressures. In many non Western cultures, especially cultures where a caste system is present such as in India or Pakistan or the UK, there is sometimes tremendous pressures on young people to "only be a doctor," by their parents.

I used to know a girl from India and she trained to be in medicine and her parents almost, I say almost got to the point where they'd lock her in her bedroom sometimes to make her study even more than she was studying. And she was already overstudied. She was always exhausted and I could tell she was doing it because of her folks, not because it was what she wanted.

I dont want someone like that as my physician when they grow up. And they are out there, running around. Some do become very affluent, but very miserable people who spread their misery onto others.

Guest wrote:
MrGrumpy wrote:
Pretty ridiculous if you ask me. So I canned his sorry ass last August.

And he probably doesn't care. You've probably learned that if you see a doctor twice and you are unhappy with his/her care, it's time to find someone else. Too many people just keep going to the same person and expect the care to magically change. Unless you have certain problems, where there are a very limited number of doctors who treat that problem, or you live very rural, it is inconvenient at most to find a different doctor. My problem is that I find them and then they leave to become hospitalists or retire. Anyway. It's good that you are done with that doctor. The way things are going now, in future, most sleep studies are going to be done at-home unless you have complicating factors. In addition, as you have already realized Mr Grumpy, when you want something paid for by someone else, you have to jump the hoops. While Medicare and my insurer paid for my machine and a mask, I bought my other masks and stuff because waiting was intolerable. Part of the problem is that each DME interprets the Medicare rules differently. As soon as my 13 months are up, I'll be switching to someone else who gets it.

Stormynights · Post by **Stormynights** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 11:27 pm

Some do become very affluent, but very miserable people who spread their misery onto others.

Mr Grumpy?

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Sat Feb 13, 2016 11:38 pm

One of the best/nicest doctors my husband had this last year was Bulgarian.

Stormynights · Post by **Stormynights** » Sun Feb 14, 2016 12:32 am

chunkyfrog wrote:One of the best/nicest doctors my husband had this last year was Bulgarian.

If we didn't have doctors from other countries we wouldn't have very many doctors. My comment was about My Grumpy not doctors.

cancun · Post by **cancun** » Sun Feb 14, 2016 12:34 am

[quote="MrGrumpy". He was a foreign trained doctor and Ive learned a long time ago foreign trained doctors usually are among the worst. Many come from non Western cultures where they are basically pushed into medicine because of family pressures. In many non Western cultures, especially cultures where a caste system is present such as in India or Pakistan or the UK, there is sometimes tremendous pressures on young people to "only be a doctor," by their parents.

I used to know a girl from India and she trained to be in medicine and her parents almost, I say almost got to the point where they'd lock her in her bedroom sometimes to make her study even more than she was studying. And she was already overstudied. She was always exhausted and I could tell she was doing it because of her folks, not because it was what she wanted.

I dont want someone like that as my physician when they grow up. And they are out there, running around. Some do become very affluent, but very miserable people who spread their misery onto others.

Guest wrote:
MrGrumpy wrote:
Pretty ridiculous if you ask me. So I canned his sorry ass last August.

You also mentioned in an earlier post about the overweight tech and having an issue with her so you have a problem with fat people and foreigner's I think you just have a lot of issues. Not being born in the US and being overweight don't don't disqualify one from doing their jobs.
It isn't just sleep doctors that can provide sub par care all doctors can be that way and we all do have to advocate for ourselves. You did it when you fired your sleep doctor and now you have to find another one, call first and ask to speak to the office manager and tell them what you are looking for in your doctor. When my insurance hired a new third party company for the DME I let them know I wouldn't deal with APRIA so they make sure that I don't deal with them. You also have to use a little diplomacy when speaking with them. In other words don't be an ass. There are eight doctors in my PCP office, I hated the first one I saw, so I called the office manager and told her I was not a good patient but that I was an honest one and told her what I was needed in a doctor i.e. not one who was going to yell at me and tell me what to do, I already know what I need to do as a diabetic and I know what I won't do and what that can do to me but I also know I need a doctor to prescribe my medicine and I asked her if she could talk to her doctors and find one willing to work with me, it took her a couple weeks and she called and said she found one willing to work with me. We have worked together for 6 years now and do well together and she is not obnoxious and pushy and I do much better than I used to and she prescribes the meds I need.
Insurance is a necessary evil and I could not afford my medical care without it.

And he probably doesn't care. You've probably learned that if you see a doctor twice and you are unhappy with his/her care, it's time to find someone else. Too many people just keep going to the same person and expect the care to magically change. Unless you have certain problems, where there are a very limited number of doctors who treat that problem, or you live very rural, it is inconvenient at most to find a different doctor. My problem is that I find them and then they leave to become hospitalists or retire. Anyway. It's good that you are done with that doctor. The way things are going now, in future, most sleep studies are going to be done at-home unless you have complicating factors. In addition, as you have already realized Mr Grumpy, when you want something paid for by someone else, you have to jump the hoops. While Medicare and my insurer paid for my machine and a mask, I bought my other masks and stuff because waiting was intolerable. Part of the problem is that each DME interprets the Medicare rules differently. As soon as my 13 months are up, I'll be switching to someone else who gets it.

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Sleep apnea patient abandonment? Anyone experienced it?

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Re: Sleep apnea patient abandonment? Anyone experienced it?

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