I think I would report this Dr, even if he was having a bad day there is no need for rudeness. As you said pain meds won't solve the problem and prob won't give her much relief if its that bad. Can she see another dr or just go to the ER? She might get proper attention and faster surgery if she is screaming in pain in there.
I had a hyst 40 years ago...that pain is no fun!!

Thanks Rosepetal, this was in ER yesterday that we went.
She said last nite that she was going to report him. Apparently her uterus should be the size of a pear, but it is 6" longer than a pen (extends up into her abdomen) and much much wider than it should be as well. This is what the nurses said after the ultra-sound.

A foot long vs a pear size? Nurses aren't supposed to
give results of ultra-sounds. Just curious, were you with
her in the exam room? 2nd chance next July? Doesn't
make sense.

I see you are in Canada. This is the kind of medicine our present government wants us to have - NO WAY.

Some Canadians come to the US for medical. I don't know how they do it. Here is ND, we have a program for those women who need this kind of surgery that is very reasonable. If you are near ND, you might at least look into that. I will get the name if you want it. I do hope she gets the needed help she need.
Marie

Wait now. She didn't ask for a judgement of their system. Let's try to stick to the issue for a moment before heading off course.

Yes, that is highly unprofessional. Can either provider refer her to anyone else? I have to ask because I am not certain how this would work in your system. If so, then that's what I'd do. That second "opinion" person might get it done for her sooner. Maybe. And I'd file a complaint at the hospital/provincial/? official who overseas doctors there.

Is her gynecologist to busy to get in on this? Like you are feeling , she needs better care and the second doctor should be reported to his administrator. Not for his opinion but for his bad attitude .
My opinion , if she wants it out , she should do it . Get the oct time and keep trying for a better time. July is the next opening? That is unthinkable!

Good luck to her. I've been there, done that, without all the hassles. Life is so much better now.

what an awful way to treat anyone! does she have a primary care dr, that might intervene for her?

Unfortunately there are rude drs. but, as far as the surgical date, her situation is not life threatening and it's not unusual to get a late date like that even at top Boston hospitals. If a surgeon is heavily booked, you just have to wait and in the meantime, take pain meds. We just went through this with our granddaughter who had terrible pain and a 6 centimeter ovarian tumor plus endometriosis. She had to wait 3 months but she took pain meds in the interim. As for reporting the incident, I would.

Jasdip, I am sorry for your friend. I know all too well the problems with Canadian health care. As far as reporting the doctor, frankly I don't think anything will be done about it - except maybe making your friend feel better that she at least tried. I would keep the October date and hope that nothing interferes with it or it well might be next July before she can have the surgery. My husband's cousin had to go the the Mayo Clinic to be diagnosed with ALS (she was not expecting that horrible diagnosis). She had been falling down for over a year and she couldn't get an appointment with a specialist in Ontario for another year - so they paid a huge sum of money to go to the Mayo and had the results in a few days. Every time I go to my doctor I am afraid that she will have a sign up reading that she is retiring - she is 7 years young than I am - so 56 - and runs a closed, sole practice. You would know exactly how hard it is to get a doctor in Ontario - despite having to pay the costs regardless. I really hope everything works out for your friend. I am amazed when I read on The Kitchen Table of people who are able to get MRIs so quickly - and are able to reschedule if they have problems during the first one. Heck, I would probably be on the wait list for 1 1/2 years.

She has pain a couple of times a month...that doesn't present as an emergency, nor even urgent situation. Perhaps your system is different than in USA, but here that would be looked upon as misuse of the healthcare system to go to a hospital ER for a second opinion or to try to bump up the date for what is essentially an elective surgery. She didn't get the answer she wanted, I wonder how much that played into the perception of rudeness? Also perhaps the 2nd dr was just a bit perturbed that she was taking up precious medical time in an ER with what was essentially already taken care of? Just sayin'.

My dh had pain every single day, had to wait 6 weeks until the surgery for knee replacement could be scheduled. That's not unusual at all. We don't typically get surgery scheduled immediately unless it is a true emergency, particularly if you've chosen a surgeon who has an excellent reputation. Much better to pick a dr with good outcomes, than one who can & will easily do it "tomorrow"....IMHO.

jasdip, did you take your neighbour to the ER because she doesn't have her own doctor? If so, I know that it can be pretty difficult to find a doctor who is taking new patients here in Ontario, (I'm from the Toronto area) but I found my own physician by going to a walk-in-clinic that advertised in the phone book that they also take new patients.
So my doctor takes walk-ins at the clinic, but she also has her own clientelle of patients who book appointments with her. She manages to send me for referrals to specialists when I need to see one, and I've never had to wait too long to get treatment. Perhaps if your neighbour can get her own doctor, rather than having to go through the one at the hospital, she will have a better experience trying to seek treatment.

She doesn't have a family doctor at all. She went to the walk-in clinic who did some tests at the lab. Urine, blood-work etc. She didn't hear back from them of the results and she called me in tears last week from the excruciating pain. I took her to one hospital (we have 2). She spent the day there, they did the ultra-sound etc. They tracked down the lab at the walk-in clinic and they lost all of her tests they did that day. And they didn't call her to have them re-done.

The hospital sent the tests over to the hospital that we went to yesterday. That's where the gynecologist is. The doctor that saw her was on call. He didn't fill out the paperwork correctly stipulating what she can and shouldn't do, on light-duty, and her place of work has placed numerous calls to him to fax the correct form. He hasn't done it yet and she can't go in to work without the form being filled out.

He gave her a prescription for Advil, which I told her to get filled out to help with the pain.

I am sorry the Doctor was rude but I wouldn't have gone to the ER if it wasn't an emergency. I know it might have seemed that way at the time, if your neighbour was in pain. If the ultrasound showed something that needed immediate attention I would hope the Doctor at the clinic would have set up an appointment with a specialist.

My family Doctor I have had for years also runs a clinic. As far as our Canadian medical care goes I have never had to wait for an appointment to see my Doctor or to see a specialist. I went to the Doctor the other day and was immediately sent for an ultrasound. If there is nothing wrong I won't hear from my Doctor unless I call. If there is something wrong his nurse will call me to come in.

Myself and my family or friends have never had problems with our Canadian health care or access to the system. If you want to pay to get ahead of the queue anyone can go across the border for US medical care but you will have to fork out big bucks. We don't get nickel and dimed for anything used in the hospital - not even for a band aid. Someone I know was recently in a car crash over in the US. They are about to lose their home to foot medical bills that would have been covered in Canada if the accident happened here.

I am sure there are complaints about Canadian health care and wait times, but I am thankful every day that we have socialized medicine and that everyone is equal whether they are rich or poor.

Jasdip, an October surgery date is pretty good in my opinion. 2 months wait time is not very long. I am sure it will feel like forever when you are in pain though.

This is NOT what Obamacare is. Under the new health plan everyone would have their own healthcare policy of their choice, and if they choose they will have health insurance that will allow them to see their doctor's privately whenever they need to, and to have testing and treatment as soon as needed.

I've been told that Canada has a much higher percentage of foreign-trained doctors in practice than the US does.

Was this rude doctor an immigrant from a foreign country? Not that that necessarily indicates any difference in competence (and not that it doesn't), but maybe there is a lack of cultural fluency at play here?

Shelgal thank you for that post of sanity. I am so sick of people trashing the Healthcare Act when they don't even know what it is. The public needs to educate themselves and quit listening to FOX news.

Good luck figuring out Obamacare.
Here's an unbiased site where you can start.

Here is a link that might be useful: Obamacare facts

Cherryfizz, I'm happy with our local care overall. But it can be a huge difference city to city. Mom got the very best of top-notch care in her final months at London Health Sciences. It was a far different experience when she was here, in our local hospital.

Hubby's PSA levels are very high, and his bladder isn't emptying and his kidney is swollen. Our doctor put in a referral and it was 5 months before he was able to see the urologist. He sees him for checks and tests to monitor everything and is on 3 medications.

What upset my friend is that the doctor told her to just live with the growth and take pain medication. Why would he recommend that over surgery? The uterus is clearly much larger than it should be and growing. Yet he recommends taking pain killers for the pain. That won't get rid of the problem. That's what we find so un-professional.

Excruciating pain is a perfectly good reason to go to ER. Why wouldn't it be? If it was you, I'm sure you would change your mind quickly.

Her situation with the enlarged uterus is not normal. I would suggest she tries to establish a relationship with a primary care doctor for all of her healthcare needs, not just this situation. But I don't think she was out of line at all. Kudos to you, Jasdip, for being a good friend.

Like Cherryfizz and Pickyshopper, I have never had to wait or a specialist appt, and nether have any of my family members had to wait. Also, I called last week to request a follow up MRI, and it's scheduled for August 29, I don't think that's bad at all.

Jasdip, sorry your friend is having such a hard time and having to deal with a rude doctor makes it worse. When I was in the hospital due to anemia and was scheduled for a colonoscopy the doc (whom I never had met) came into my room while I was dozing off and stood next to my bed. When I opened my eyes his first dialog with me was "how old are you anyhow". I, not knowing who he was, said who are you and how old are you? It went downhill from there. The next day as I was waking from the colonoscopy he was at my side and said "you have colon cancer", held up a picture for me to see then said "follow up with my office" and walked out. Needless to say I did not allow him anywhere near me after that. I had successful surgery and am now 2.5 years into cancer survival.
It is hard to believe that anyone especially someone who is in the health care field could be so unfeeling. I certainly hope your friend can find some relief soon.
Satine

I'm in the US but my best friend now lives in Canada. She's on a long waitng list to get a colonoscopy test. She's high-risk. Her mother had Spastic Colon and multiple allergies. Me, I called and got an appointment for a colonoscopy within a month. I'm not bad-mouthing health care, but that doctor sounds like a jerk, a woman-hater. It is also very unprofessional for a nurse to give patients results of a sonogram. I'd suggest she look for a "second opinion". P. S. My friend in Canada lives in Ottawa(the capital).

This post was edited by jannie on Fri, Aug 23, 13 at 9:47

Where does your friend live, Jannie? When I had my first colonoscopy I waited two weeks. I think I waited four weeks the second time. I live in the Niagara Region.

She really should get in somewhere and get this diagnosed properly,no matter who or where it is done.JMO of course!!

The other night I watched the true story of a man whos testicle took on a life of it's own.I can't remember exactly how long it was before he got help,but that thing grew to be 132# by the time it was taken off.

It was partly his fault,should say a lot his fault,as he didn't want to go to the dr because he had no insurance etc.

He couldn't even wear pants,rather he had to buy real large zippered sweat shirts and put his legs thru the sleeves and zip the rest up to cover the big mass,that sucker hung to the ground,he could not do hardly anything himself.

He also had trouble finding a dr that would take him on as they had never seen anything like it.They said his penis was embedded into it.

He finally had it removed,and it weighed 132 lbs.

any thing growing out of proportion needs to be dealt with asap.
kathi

Wait times in the ER can be up to 7 hours or more so if I was in pain that is the last place I would want to be waiting especially if I had already been seen by a Doctor, had somewhat of a diagnosis and given a date for surgery. If I had gone to the clinic close to where I lived I would have been seen right away by a qualified doctor who would either have eased my mind, and given me a prescription for pain relief if needed. Again, if you are in pain you will do anything to get help but I certainly wouldn't want to sit around in the ER when I could get faster help elsewhere and possibly a more compassionate Dr than one who is overworked and tired. in a hospital ER. Sherry you are a good friend to be concerned for your neighbour. I have friends just like you.

gads..when I went into er with bleeding I was admitted and was having a colonoscopy 24 hours later...dr wasn't sure if they had removed enough of the pollop stem so back (out patient) in 6 weeks...i'm fine and don't go back for a year...

i'm wondering though? are you suffering from a lack of drs in Canada? they keep saying we are here, with the elder population of baby boomers hitting 65+....

My friend and I spoke this morning and I had mentioned her upcoming surgery in Oct. She said that the surgery isn't scheduled for Oct, it's just the meeting with the gynecologist. So it's 2 months before she can see the gyny and then he'll schedule the surgery from then. So who knows when it will be.

thanks for the update! we'll keep her in our prayers that she will get help asap...

That doctor needs to be reported. Loud and often; he has no business being a doctor with that attitude.

I'd go to the hospital administration, patient advocacy, the state medical association, the insurance provider - everyone would know what happened.

I hope she gets her surgery soon. If there were less pill-pushing doctors, we'd all live longer.

That's just awful. I hope she can get the surgery she needs quickly, and she is completely cured. I fear that's where we are headed sadly.

Here's something else to add to the incompetent file.

The doctor that she saw filled out a little slip saying that she's to be put on light duty at work. That's it.
Her place of work has left mssges, spoken to the nurses, called the departments where he works that he needs to fill out a proper form, outlaying the limitations.....e.g. no heavy lifting etc.

He won't return calls, nor accept a fax from them to fill out the form.

This ultimately means that she can't go back to work without the detailed explanation. Her work told her that she'll have to go back to the clinic, have the tests done again, so that the doctor examining her can form his own opinions and fill out the form. He will have the records from the hospital, as well.

So because of this total and complete imbecile, her pay is affected and she has to have repeated, unnecessary exams.

What a mess- there's really no excuse for the way this physician has handled things. Does he have a supervisor that your friend can contact? Maybe the supervisor can get him to fill out the necessary forms.

I don't understand why her employer doesn't just get her to sign a release to have the test results sent to the second physician. Maybe someone can advocate for her- a union rep or someone else there who can help her navigate.

I have not experienced an ER or hospital doctor fill out those kind of forms. After a hospital visit that required me to be off of work I had to go to my family doctor to get the required form filled out. Same for my brother, he often spends the night in the ER but the next day has to go to the clinic or family doctor for a form. I am sure that would also have to be done your friend has to be put on light duty. That ER doctor should have told his patient to get the proper forms filled out.

Sherry, check this site out and rate the doctor or have your friend to it. I checked on my Doctor and he has a very good rating. You can also write a review. Not sure who sees this though but it might help someone else change their mind. It also shows what doctors in your area who are taking new patients.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rate Your Doctor

I'm confused. Wouldn't this all be moot if she just got her own doctor? I understand that she doesn't have one now, but wouldn't it be good for her to get one rather than depending upon the ER? Especially since she clearly has health issues?

There is a problem in canada and some areas do not doctors at all and they either go without or they travel long distances to see one if they can get in.

Where I live in canada, I have heard stories of ones dying from no one doing anything.

The clinics the doctors will see you but not on long term if you have any long term health issues and so that means for thos patients must go to ER and sit there and wait for anything and the doctors do get angry. I had one doctor that got so angry at me, told me I woke him up, that upset me as too bad, that is his job that night.

I don't like those check out if doctor is good or not, what is good for some, aren't for others, I think you just need too if you can look around for a doctor that you relate to and they to you.

There are long waits here in canada, my dad found out in year 2011 he has cancer and he did go through the colonoscopy,etc. tests and he saw a surgery but then the local hospital was renovating and told he had to go downtown to see this other surgeon, that surgeon told him he had to do 12 treatments or he won't operate on him. He did. He had to wait until the following year January to be operated on.

another time he came down with very painful blisters on his stomach and feet and told no, they are not shingles and he could barely walk on them and was in agony.
He finally got an appointment with a dermotologist that is very busy and has clinics all over here and in another province.

Here due to the elderly, the heart speicalists are so popular and so many trying to get into see them.

Specialists are on high demand and long waits to seeing them.

Tests can be long waits too.

Now for tests, I am told when have blood tests or like a bone density I am going to to wait a week or two and then come back and talk to him and he will tell the results and if anything needs to be done.

There are families that move here and they want family doctors to go too for their children to grow up with.

Doctors retire and unless there is another doctor they can get to take the spot, you are on your own to try to find a doctor that will accept patients.

I have had to cope with sub doctors and one doctor is fantastic, I would love it when my doctor retires for him to take it over.

Two others were terrible, one is known as really bad at the local hospital.

The lady doctor didn't like her at all and very hard to understand with her thick accent.

We have lost too many doctors to the states.

So, there is good and bad to our health system.

Oh, its not true, there were bills to be paid, my dad there was a bill to be paid when he was released.

They are having collecting the money for ambulances as people need them and the bill is too high for so many of us to pay and so there are a lot of unpaid then.

ER, it depends here what is going on and if you beat the rush and get into right away to be seen, the wait is five hours as they do blood tests and other tests for some and you have to wait for that time when the doctor finally is found by a nurse and told you can go, this is the results. There is only one doctor too in our local ER.

Prescriptions are a problem too, you get subs that won't renew your medication your doctor put you on and it makes it tough when that happens to you.

Susieque, I am surprised too that Jasdip;s neighbour doesn't even have a clinic doctor. but they may live in an area where there are not many clinics. The Province of Ontario's health care mandate is that everyone should have access to a doctor. I am not absolutely positive but I think they wanted Doctors to devote some of their time to clinic hours so that everyone has access to a doctor that does not have a family physician. In the community where I live I can count more than 3 walk in clinics less than a mile from my house, some are even open nights and weekends.

Kathleen, I am sorry you experienced bad health care.Do you live in an under service area. Where I live there seems to be a medical clinic every frew miles and we are a city with a population of just over 200,000. I guess my family and friends have been fortunate. I haven't heard of any horror stories personally but I don't doubt there are problems. I guess until you experience it you don't know how bad it could be. My family members and some friends have had some severe medical issues and have had nothing but wonderful care. My sister was telling me today her one prescription is $700 a month and the senior plan does not cover it but the cancer clinic pays for it. For all the prescriptions she has she only has to pay $4 co pay per prescription.

I was at my Doctors just last week for a bug and infection I picked up. Last week I went to the clinic where my Doctor works and was seen immediately. I didn't have to wait 5 minutes. They took my health card number and I was in. My Doctor examined me and arranged for an ultrasound for the next day. After the ultrasound it wasn't even a week before I got the results and was called by my Doctor's office to come in that day but I couldn't so I went in the next day.

Thursday I went to my Doctor's office in the same building as the clinic since he was in his office that day seeing his regular patients. Again, I didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes to get in and then got the results and was given a batch of tests to have done. One of the tests is for a mammogram and that is next Thursday - I have never had to wait more than a week to get a mammogram although I know some areas where the wait is longer. Some women are referred here from other cities because of the shorter wait time.

My blood tests and x-rays I can just drop in down the street at another clinic to have them done at the same time although I am not looking forward to the blood tests. No appointment is necessary. The other test I have to have done is a mail in test haha not looking forward to doing that one either.
One of my family members does not have a family doctor and is a long term patient with one of the doctors at a clinic.

I don't have a drug plan so I pay for my prescriptions. If I do need something that is expensive or long term like when I had to take prescription meds for my acid reflux my Doctor;s nurse arranged for the drug rep to drop off boxes of medication for me and I would pick it up once a month. I don't have need for them anymore.

I know someone who has degenerative disks in her back making it hard for her to walk. One day it got so bad she went to see the Doctor and she got into see a neurologist right away which was surprising. She was sent for an MRI. After the MRI when she was ready to leave they told her she couldn't go they were sending her for surgery right away. She was shocked at this and wanted time to think so had to sign a waiver to go home. They told her if it gets any worse to come back to the ER and they would get her right into surgery which is what eventually happened. No waiting. Just told to come in. Now I must admit that is a bit unusual but some people are lucky haha

As far as foreign doctors from other countries. They just can't come in and start practicing. They may be wonderful knowledgeable Doctors in their own countries but when they come to Canada they have to have the same qualifications that Canadian doctors do. They have to pass Board examines and get their Canadian medical license

Sure there are a lot of problems with our medical system but isn't there in other places as well. I have heard of long wait times in American ERs just like here. I just watched ABC's Nightline the other night where a charitable organization set up an outdoor medical clinic in Virginia where some people waited in line for days to see a doctor, dentist, many types of health care because they don't have access to medical care of doctors or can't afford to go. I think we are fortunate none of us in Canada has to do that. If you have the money the US will welcome you with open arms. Many people here take the 15 minute trip across the border for surgery because they have the means to do so. Sometimes OHIP will even pay for needed medical care across the border. Often people in Windsor are sent across the border to trauma centres. I guess we are lucky we can have the best of both worlds.

In every walk of life you meet rude people, people do lose patience especially those that have to deal with the public and are over worked. No it is not good to be on the receiving end when you are ill and there is no excuse for it but it happens. If I was so bothered by it I would find somewhere to complain, there are ways to do that. Hospitals have boards, then there is Health Ontario. If the doctor was incompetent I would go elsewhere.

I like to know that I can live in a Province that if I or any of my family or friends get sick, we can get health care without worrying how much it is going to cost us or if we can afford it or if we have the right insurance to cover us.. Sure the time will come as it already has that some services are not free anymore like physiotherapy or mole removal but that is a small price to pay for what we do have.

Sherry I hope your friend gets the help she needs from a good doctor. Sometimes if you live in a small community it is good to get a referral to a bigger medical centre like London.

We have a number of walk-in clinics. They used to work evenings and weekends, but NONE are open past 5 pm.

She went yesterday to her walk-in clinic next to her work's office. They were closed. She then took the bus (she doesn't drive) to another clinic and she met with a very nice doctor. She told her story and I guess they had her records from the hospital. He saw everything and did fill out the form for light duty.

She used to have a doctor but after not seeing him for a number of years, she was dropped as a patient. Like many she only sees a dr when there's a problem. She only started experiencing sever e pain and the scoots recently, which started this whole ordeal.

I didn't know you could have your regular doctor at a walk-in clinic. I assumed you got who you got, it is all a crap-shoot. But I guess if you keep going to one clinic........provided the hours suit you........you would have a doctor, anyway.

I just can't believe there is no order for a biopsy. They have no idea what it is, and it's growing and painful. Gah, she could die before they figure it out. Outrageous!