Stupid doctor!!!

[kayla25690]

Okay, so Tuesday, i fell ill with the flu, (still have it but feeling 10 times better) So i waited until my husband got home from work so he could take me to the E.R because i couldn't quit vomiting where i was coughing so much, I had a fever and i was hurting from head to toe... I Get to the E.R i wait about 20 mins and they take me back, sit back there for another 45 mins, non stop coughing and dry heaving the "Doctor" Comes back, asks me what is wrong and i tell him, he says okay, im sending you to x-ray, and then he turns to leave, so i say, can you atleast give me something to help with the cough so i can quit vomiting?.. he says "Im not a magician, it will take a few minutes for the medicine to work, you can wait until your finished with x-ray" :swear:... i got so mad I stood up, looked at my husband and i said, Come on, we are goin to walmart.... So, i sent my husband in and he bought me some cough drops and nyquil. When we got home i went straight to bed, and i have been in bed sinse 7 o clock tuesday evening... I am so Glad i feel better and i Thank God for it...

[rsanz]

Glad you feel better. Probably saved yourself a hefty medical bill, too! E.R.'s are crazy expensive.

[majortank]

Yea you just saved yourself thousands in medical bills. I went to the ER for an asthma attack last year. After sitting in the ER for about an hr before even being seen (I could barely breathe), then sitting in an exam room for another hr, the doctor gave me some little plastic thing to breathe through. That was it. Cost me almost $2000!

[clb2196]

Do you know why they wanted the X-ray? If they think you have fluid in your lungs, I would say you need to get it checked out. You could end up with pneumonia.

Did they give you an influenza test? If you have the actual flu, they could have given you anti-virals that can help.

[kayla25690]

I Don't know what that quack thought... and nope he didn't give me any kind of tests... the only thing he wanted to do was X-Ray... and the only thing i wanted was to quit vomiting and coughing... and to feel better.. but now i do feel better..

[Blueiz]

To bad you didnt think of that before going to the emergency room. Perhaps the doctor was irritated that you were taking up his time for a non emergency.

[clb2196]

I'll admit this is a pet peeve of mine, but "the flu" is actually influenza. And if you're feeling better 2 days later, you almost definitely didn't have influenza. If did sound like a crappy virus though, and the best thing for a cough like that is a suppressant/expectorant. It'll stop you from coughing, and at the same time loosen everything up so when you do cough, it's a productive cough.

I just get annoyed at people saying they have "the flu" because then when people have the real flu, it isn't taken seriously, and people think you're faking when you're actually sick for 2 weeks. And if you really do have the flu, they have anti virals they can give you if you go in the first 72 hours, and they'll usually do a throat swab test to confirm.

[laurenrocksth]

Also, you probably didn't avoid a medical bill. Just being seen by a triage nurse and having your vital signs taken (which I imagine happened) incurs a charge. The fact that you left because you felt that your needs weren't being met doesn't mean you won't get a bill.

I also find it unfortunate that you feel that this doctor was a "quack" because he wanted to send you to xray before he treated you for your cough. Just giving someone a cough suppressant does not magically make them stop coughing. He probably wanted to make sure that you didn't have pneumonia or bronchitis or any number of other things that a cough suppressant wouldn't work on. Emergency rooms aren't in the business of unnecessarily medicating their patients.

Finally, the man (or woman) treating you wasn't a "stupid doctor." He made it through medical school. I'm pretty sure that makes him NOT stupid.

Rant over.

Glad you feel better :)

[coach_z]

glad you are feeling better.

but you should have stayed. you will probably receive a bill and end up with no treatment. also, the doctor cant just throw drugs your way because if you have some adverse reaction 'you' may end up suing him (when i say 'you' i mean any joe schmoe)

i am glad you didn't end up getting extremely ill and ending up in the ER again.

[petluvr]

Glad you are feeling better but, if nyquil and cough drops was all it took then should you not have tried that before going to the E.R.? When coughing to the point you say you were Xrays should be done and as he said I don't think there is anything that can be given to stop anything immediately. Also if he had given you a cough suppresant it is likely it could have caused more damage than if he had not which is why the xrays were needed. Not to mention the fact that it is a great possibility that there was someone there with an actual emergency that needed tending to.

[Dwarf Puffers]

Also, you probably didn't avoid a medical bill. Just being seen by a triage nurse and having your vital signs taken (which I imagine happened) incurs a charge. The fact that you left because you felt that your needs weren't being met doesn't mean you won't get a bill.

I also find it unfortunate that you feel that this doctor was a "quack" because he wanted to send you to xray before he treated you for your cough. Just giving someone a cough suppressant does not magically make them stop coughing. He probably wanted to make sure that you didn't have pneumonia or bronchitis or any number of other things that a cough suppressant wouldn't work on. Emergency rooms aren't in the business of unnecessarily medicating their patients.

Finally, the man (or woman) treating you wasn't a "stupid doctor." He made it through medical school. I'm pretty sure that makes him NOT stupid.

Rant over.

Glad you feel better :)


I know plenty of stupid doctors who've gone through vet school... Also, X-rays are expensive. I bet money was a big factor here.

[jptjpt]

I'm glad alot of you understand that ERs are for real life or death emergencies. If you don't fall into that category, you'll be on the bottom of the list and have to wait for a long time. ER doctors are stressed as it is. Most of them are good, but b/c they're jaded or have no patience or have less than desired bedside manners, they can be curt or seem disinterested in someone who could have gone to a family doctor for treatment instead of an ER.

Of course money is a big issue here. The hospital has to incur much more cost for a patient showing up for a non-emergency procedure than a family doctor. Also, the risk of getting sued for wrong diagnosis is much greater in an ER. So an ER doc's going to order more tests to get as much info as he can for a proper diagnosis and to recoup some cost for the hospital.

Vet schools are much harder to get into than medical schools. There are only about a dozen or so vet schools in the US. You have to study a variety of biological systems, not just human as in medical school. That said, there a lots of book smart docs that cannot translate all of that knowledge into practical, compassionate treatment of a living patient.

[excuzzzeme]

I for one go to the ER for any little sniffle, cough, etc. It wasn't always this way but unfortunately when I call my doctor for an appointment the first thing I am told is to go to ER. The minute the intake person hears I have stroke history, I am immediately triaged and taken in to see a doctor. This causes everyone else there to have to wait that much longer. I know it isn't fair to all those that may have a true emergency, for the others, it's not an emergency if they have been dealing with it for the last couple of days and it doesn't bother me they have to wait longer.

If going to a store with OTC meds available gave you the relief you sought, why didn't you try that first? I always try home remedies and OTC drugs against doctor's advice, but I am not going to sit there for hours on end and go through 100 different exams just because of my history. I know what ails me I assure them but it falls on deaf ears. I know they are trying to avoid litigation but sometimes I wish they would listen to me instead!

Guess that's typical - some of us get too much attention and others like you get too little.

Boy, I could fill pages with rants of the medical systems. Guess I could also fill pages with Kudos as well (but it won't be as many).

[kayla25690]

Im not completely over my illness "Like i stated earlier" Maybe it isn't flu, maybe it is a really bad cold, but their is more to why i went to the E.R... and not just not going to walmart for over the counter meds. But i am having more Personal problems and i really didnt want to state them not should I Have to. And i do feel better than what i did, but that doesn't mean im feeling peachy.. Im still coughing so bad that my head feels like its about to burst, i still cannot hold food down.. i still have a sore throat, but thank GOD nothing like before... Call me a whimp, but im not good with pain.. and no maybe my situation wasn't life or death, but at the time i needed help... and just because i got nyquil and cough drops doesn't mean im not needing or taking more meds...

[kayla25690]

That being said... Im sorry if i ticked anyone off, but, that is the way i felt at the time..

[Bubbles2112]

I don't know why you are being blamed for utilizing medical care. The insurance companies have set up our current system out of greed. Can't afford a doctor--too bad--so sad--sucks to be you. Oh wait! now we (the consumer) are paying more for health care because of those who cannot afford healthcare go to emergency rooms--not to mention the illegals here in this county--not clinics because the insurance companies do not make money from those free clinics (which are not really free) so the insurance companies are loosing out and shifting the blame onto the consumers who utilize the emergency room because there is no other option here in the richest nation ever on the face of the earth.

Thank You. :)
Have a pleasant night!!!

[gustavo85]

It is routine in medicine to request a chest x-ray to every patient that comes to the emergency room with cough or any respiratory problems. The chest x-ray (CXR) is the most valuable tool to examine any respiratory complications; it simply tells you a lot. Furthermore, it is in part routine because if you go to the ER, they are assuming you feel horrible and that it could be something serious. And even more yet, as a future doctor I must tell you, if that doctor were to not order a CXR and just give you medicine, that would be negligible in his part and of course you would sue him. So basically he has to protect himself too. I'd say keep an eye on it, and if you feel any symptoms recurring you should definitely check yourself out...without thinking it twice.

[DrNo]

...........

[Dwarf Puffers]

I'm glad alot of you understand that ERs are for real life or death emergencies. If you don't fall into that category, you'll be on the bottom of the list and have to wait for a long time. ER doctors are stressed as it is. Most of them are good, but b/c they're jaded or have no patience or have less than desired bedside manners, they can be curt or seem disinterested in someone who could have gone to a family doctor for treatment instead of an ER.

Of course money is a big issue here. The hospital has to incur much more cost for a patient showing up for a non-emergency procedure than a family doctor. Also, the risk of getting sued for wrong diagnosis is much greater in an ER. So an ER doc's going to order more tests to get as much info as he can for a proper diagnosis and to recoup some cost for the hospital.

Vet schools are much harder to get into than medical schools. There are only about a dozen or so vet schools in the US. You have to study a variety of biological systems, not just human as in medical school. That said, there a lots of book smart docs that cannot translate all of that knowledge into practical, compassionate treatment of a living patient.


There are a lot of vets around here mainly because a huge veterinary university is about 5 hours away. And some aren't in the right mental state.

[DrNo]

:coffee: