Another "terrific" doctor.

[Karlynn]

We were at a party last night and a friend of mine asked me which valve I had replaced. I told her the mitral valve. She then told me her story of starting to have chest pain and anxiety attacks in November. She put up with it through the holidays, thinking it was just stress. She told a nurse friend about her symptoms and she said - sounds like you might have valve issues. So my friend finally went to her doctor. Sure enough he heard a murmer and a click and thought it was probably the mitral valve.

Now this is where it gets just plain stupid.

So what does this doctor do first? He orders a stress test. My friend goes in last week and has the stress test, and she passed. The doctor calls her and says "Well, you passed your stress test." and she said "So what are we going to do next?" and he said "Well, you passed your stress test, I don't think we really need to do anything else." She said "Don't you think I should have an echo?" and he said "Well, if you'd like to have one, I suppose I could give you an order for one." So he did. She hasn't scheduled it yet.

I told her to absolutely get the echo done. Get copies of all test results and then find another doctor ASAP. She said that she wasn't all that crazy about the doctor prior to this, but this just gives her the reason to dump him and move on.

 

[WayneGM]

She should absolutely dump that doctor.

My GP sent me to a Card as soon as the murmur surfaced. I went to the Card twice and both times I had a stress test and an echo. He was amazed at how well I did on the stress tests each time but the echo revealed my regurg got significantly worse between the visits and the heart was starting to enlarge. I had surgery 6 months later. Definitely time for a new doctor!

 

[michellep]

Why do some doctor's disregard women's symptoms? My chest pains were totally dismissed. Luckily, my murmur was so loud it demanded attention. Tell your friend to be aggressive!

 

[geebee]

So many doctors are this way. The GP I had when my murmur was first mentioned told me it was something "you were probably born with and nothing to worry about". A few months later I was at my yearly GYN visit and he asked me if I knew I had a murmur. I told him what the GP said and he said, "Oh no, that is not right", and sent me to a cardio. The rest is my OHS history. Needless to say, I never returned to that GP.

 

[LUVMyBirman]

Yep, get that echo done. I posted about our friend that was "cleared" for physcial by a NW doc. He had MVP with reguirg. Excellent shape. 35 years of age. Died on his tread mill. I pitty the people that just take what they have to say...and not investigate further. In this case....it was obviously fatal.

Hope your friend gets the care she needs.

 

[Marguerite53]

I'm glad she has Dr. Karlynn watching out for her!! Unbelievable.

Marguerite

 

[Susan BAV]

And this problem can't be unique to heart doctors! If a doctor doesn't know about something, why can't he admit such and promise to research it and then bring the patient back for another appointment when he has the new information?

My husband and I discovered, in just several minutes on the Web when we were armed with a copy of my echo report, that my (former) cardio had given me very bad information! I still don't know why this man outright lied to my husband and I about my echo results, which he was reading right in front of us. In the case of my (former) local cardiology group, they specialize in pharmaceutical studies. They are now all FAT CAT$. Perhaps there are still some conscientious individuals in that group but I met nearly all of them and found them all deficient. I have wondered many times if the doctor was so awful to us because he wanted us to go elsewhere. But why? Because he knew they couldn't help us? Or because we had doctor-hopped within the group? I'll never know.

I have a good friend who has mitral valve issues and his symptoms sound pretty ominous to me but he keeps on going back to a doctor in that same lousy group. I've even told his wife, also a good friend, the problems that I personally know that several of our mutual acquaintances have also had with that same group. But they really don't seem to know what to do and/or where else to go. I think that's a common problem too. Many patients think they'll get the same treatment with another doctor.

 

[Marty]

I'm surprised at the story above. Usually , if you see a board certified cardiologist you are in good hands.

 

[Jims]

That's good advise

That's good advise

Karlynn,

I had 6 cardio's before I had my surgery. Most of them fell into the catagory "another terrific doctor".

Your advise to your friend is great. It may save her life or at least extend it.

Keep up the good work!

Jim

 

[Susan BAV]

I'm surprised at the story above. Usually , if you see a board certified cardiologist you are in good hands.

If you meant the incident I referred to: Four years ago, my family doctor saw me after I had an echo for symptoms (about six months pre-op) which I didn't have a copy of yet, but he had a copy of the report. He said to me, "I don't know hearts but I think the 55 gradient is bad. You need to go back and see Dr. _____," who is in a whole group of board certified cardiologists.

So my husband and I went back to the lousy cardio office and saw that Dr. _____ and he sat across from us at his desk and told us to our faces that the echo read a 30-something gradient and he said the stenosis was moderate. We remembered what the family doctor had told us about the gradient being 55 and this conversation came at the end of an exam where, to every symptom I told the cardio I had, his reply was, "No, you don't." He asked me if I had walked in from the parking lot unassisted. When I said I had, he told me I was fine and my valve wouldn't need replaced until I couldn't walk in without help and he also said my valve would possibly never need replaced. (Well, he was right about that because, had I taken his advice to come back in a year, my valve would probably already have failed.) He specifically told me that my symptoms were, "Nothing." In the same breath as that, however, he insisted I needed to begin a beta-blocker. He even shoved samples into my husband's hands.

My husband and I were absolutely shocked. I asked for a copy of the echo, which he insisted he had to mail to me, but I finally decided to flush him and I told him I really needed it. He then stammered and sputtered and started machine-gunning nonsense about gradients and what they are compared to what they are measured at and more nonsense; he knew we caught him in a lie.

My husband and I were both absolutely shocked about it. I can't explain why that cardio acted that way. We are just average people, and could never account for that cardio's behavior to us. The memory is unpleasant and painful. We left that office with a copy of the echo report which read mod-severe aortic stenosis and a 55 gradient, among other things.

When I had an angiogram about six months later, the new doctors told me I had "weeks not months" to get the failing bicuspid replaced.

(edit - That's the first time I've put down the entire incident and I'm surprised how much is still puzzles and disappoints me; it's painful to recall it. I may end up deleting the post.)

 

[EireCara]

Sorry you received treatment like this Susan. I know the feelling. It leaves you feelilng,''what'', ''why'', ''why me''....at least its all behind you.!!! ))))))))hugs((((((((

 

[Karlynn]

The doctor I'm referring to is an internist - not a cardio. Even so, shame on him. I did caution my friend that when she got a cardio to ask specifically how many valve patients he/she deals with. Not all cardios are up to speed on valve issues. I found that out the hard way.

 

[LUVMyBirman]

Yes....shocking story Marty. He was cleared the week prior. So young...... wife and babies too. I intend to find the name of that doc and stear clear. Which will not be a issue as I am not tied in as it stands. We have heard quite a few nightmare stories coming out of that facility as of late. Top ranking does not mean too much in this case!