Doctor’s office insensitivity

[Mel_82]

Does anyone else find their doctor/doctors receptionist doesn’t take your health anxiety seriously?
I have told them on numerous occasions that what might be a simple phone call for most causes me a lot of anxiety.

So this just happens: I was having lower right abdominal pain (I’m diagnosed with an ovarian cyst, so I assumed that’s what was causing the pain, but I went to Get checked out at the ER yesterday to rule out appendicitis).

When I got there the ER doctor thought it could very well be my appendix so I was sent for an ultra sound, blood work, transvaginal ultra sound, urine test and a CT scan.
He discussed the results with me. All was fine except I had a few ovarian cysts. He said since I had a gyno appt in March he wasn’t going to intervene with them.
I felt such a relief upon leaving.

Then today my family doctor’s receptionist calls with this frantic sounding message saying “we have your ultra sound results here! The doctor specifically asked I call you and make an appointment to discuss these results.”

So automatically I start to have a panic attack and call back and say “I discussed the results yesterday with the ER doctor? Are they the same? Did you find something new?” And she says “oh nevermind. I’ll cancel this, they would be the same results.” -_-

As much as I know he would have had the same results as the ER doctor now that nagging voice is like “maybe he saw something the ER doctor missed??”
I called the ER and they assured me that if anything sinister was going on they would have discussed it. I feel better now about it, but holy insensitive from my family doctor.
A simple “hi hour results are in, please call back” would have been sufficient.

Needless to say my quest for a new doctor begins tomorrow lol.

[unsure_about_this]

I tend to book my appointments online if I want to see a GP, getting past the receptionist can be pretty tricky for me as I have health axniety

[Mel_82]

I tend to book my appointments online if I want to see a GP, getting past the receptionist can be pretty tricky for me as I have health axniety

I don’t have the option of booking online. However this was her call regarding results. She did this to me one other time and I got pretty upset with her. She apologized over and over, yet still continues to call me with “frantic” sounding, not-really-important messages.

[ColdHands]

I don’t have the option of booking online. However this was her call regarding results. She did this to me one other time and I got pretty upset with her. She apologized over and over, yet still continues to call me with “frantic” sounding, not-really-important messages.

My gastroenterologist nurse did something like this to me. I was under the impression I could schedule a test when he got back from his trip, which was going to be a couple of weeks. She made it sound like he insisted I schedule my other test before he got back. None of that was even discussed yesterday when I saw him. He said he wants me to have the test, but didn't say anything like, You should have had this sooner, or etc.

Sometimes these folks are just trying to do their job and they don't realize how people like Us work. Of course I made my nurse read me the notes from my previous test and I calmed down, but still. I can't book this one online either. Most of my doctors are call in only. Many of the results are online, but not the apps.

[ServerError]

I recently had an MRI scan, mainly to try and reassure me that I don't have MS.

Anyway, a week after the scan, I get a letter saying I've got an appointment in three days at an MS clinic!

You can imagine how that made me feel. I'd completely stopped worrying about MS, and then that happens. I assumed they'd reviewed my scan and decided I urgently needed to attend an MS clinic.

It turned out to be a clerical error. I'd been sent the MS clinic appointment by mistake. Obviously it was a huge relief, but it was also a hell of a scare!

[Mel_82]

I recently had an MRI scan, mainly to try and reassure me that I don't have MS.

Anyway, a week after the scan, I get a letter saying I've got an appointment in three days at an MS clinic!

You can imagine how that made me feel. I'd completely stopped worrying about MS, and then that happens. I assumed they'd reviewed my scan and decided I urgently needed to attend an MS clinic.

It turned out to be a clerical error. I'd been sent the MS clinic appointment by mistake. Obviously it was a huge relief, but it was also a hell of a scare!

That’s absolutely terrible.
I’d be terrified too.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Our surgery does exactly this from tests. Any call about needing to see the doctor can mean HAers panic so there is only so much they can do but they can minimise this with the use of language and tone.

But even GP's don't understand that much about anxiety disorders so receptionists may know little and get no training at all on it. But you would expect they have some training in general that covers how to deal with the public about potentially sensitive issues (that they will not know about as the doctor won't tell them) for the general population because whilst this is an issue for you, imagine someone actually diagnosed with a form of cancer getting a call like this? Surely they need to take a calm & measured approach to anything just in case?

But also there is the issue of stress. It's easy to lose your cool and not be thinking about others when you are pushed. Many a doctor will have fallen into that trap.

Someone with experience of anxiety is going to think twice. Wording is very important when talking to people with Cognitive Distortions running rampant in their mind due to a disorder.

And then there is the issue of attitude with receptionists. Years ago I can remember my parents always referred to them as the surgery Gestapo. Even at our current surgery there is one who is great and can't do enough for you and then there are the jobworths and those that won't accept any blame no matter how much they get wrong. Like years ago when they (receptionists do the repeat prescriptions at my surgery, not doctors) decided I no longer needed my daily asthma meds and upon raising this it became my problem to see a GP when they could fit me in for meds they had been prescribing over 15 years at that point! The answer they got was in the same tone to go and speak any GP to check my records and not waste another GP appointment for your clerical error. No apology even then. But the one who is great is friendly and always willing to go the extra mile for patients.

[Magic]

Our surgery does the same thing. If results are bad we have a phone call.
Personally I would see the doctor too. Whatever the results.
I make appointments with receptionists only. That's all.
If I want any advice I will ask to speak to the triage nurse, who will ring back.
Our Local chemist is absolutely useless I might add.
There must have been many complaints made about them.

[countrygirl]

I used to work at a drs but having h a i was very sympathetic to patients but other staff were dreadful. I remember one man quite obviously had severe h a and came weekly. He paid privately for all his tests so was not costing the nhs that much but the practise manager said awful things abiut him and anyone with h a. Obviously i kept very quiet but was always very nice to him!
I was also the person who had to phone people with results and agaun having h a helped. I remember being told to phone a lady with smear test results that said she had cin 4 abnornality which is as bad as it coukd be on christmas eve to tell her she had appt after new year to discuss results with gp. I refused and successfully argued that we ring her just before we closed for 1 day at new year so we didnt ruin her christmas.

[Mel_82]

My current doctors office is definitely the worst.
They called me the following day too to discuss CT results that they got, which again I discussed at the ER and all was fine.
This time I was less panicked because of what happened the day before. I live in Canada so every time my health card is swiped they get paid.
I think they’re just calling for easy money.

[NervUs]

I think part of the problem is that WE look for urgency that is not there.

I have had to go through cancer screening a few times in my life. The first time, I was sure I would get bad results b/c I thought the nurse wouldn't look me in the eye. Turns out, I did not have bad results at all and the nurse was probably just being normal, but I was scanning for doom. That has happened a gazillion times to me.

Personally, I think with HA we need to learn how to adapt to other people and not the other way around. Changing doctors might not fix the problem, in other words, since we are going to read into stuff when we shouldn't.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I think part of the problem is that WE look for urgency that is not there.

I have had to go through cancer screening a few times in my life. The first time, I was sure I would get bad results b/c I thought the nurse wouldn't look me in the eye. Turns out, I did not have bad results at all and the nurse was probably just being normal, but I was scanning for doom. That has happened a gazillion times to me.

Personally, I think with HA we need to learn how to adapt to other people and not the other way around. Changing doctors might not fix the problem, in other words, since we are going to read into stuff when we shouldn't.

It's a matter of both. Sufferers are on alert for any possible clue, anything the internal doubts can latch onto. Medical staff are not trained very well on mental health issues.

They can train them to reduce this. The sufferers are harder to deal with and it comes down to the therapy/support side but that will never be resolved as it's just part of these conditions. There will always be people new to mental health issues or too severe to employ what they know of anxiety. The medics need to be able to handle these situations just as they have to handle people in pain or upset who don't have mental health issues.