my vent rant

[malin]

Ugh! That is so disgusting! The guy should be ashamed to call himself a doctor!

My rheumy is the complete opposite of your' doc She will overreact as soon as I sneeze! I have to tell HER that it's nothing more than a cold at times! lol

It just goes to show how different rheumys can be and how different they treat us, some over do it and some do absolutely nothing at all! :/

[marta]

I love you guys. Thanks. It's nice to hear that I'm not over reacting, but I knew that we'd be on the same page.

Staystronglivelong, it was the same for me... if the headaches weren't as nutty at the start I probably would have sucked it up and not got diagnosed. My headaches at the start were absolutely insane. Thanks!!
Hey Phil, the doc I found in Calgary is Dr. Stephen Edworthy. He sounds awesome, hopefully he's taking new patients. I'll follow up on all of that on Monday and hopefully the stars align just right. Gracias Amigo.
Jan, I'm totally with you. That's what I thought too, and that's why I was so blown away by the responce.
Malin, can you share your doc? ha ha, it would be an awesome trip everytime I went to see her. She sounds wonderful. It would be great to have someone looking out for you when you're still trying to figure this out. Hopefully my search for a good one is fruitful and just around the corner.

Thanks friends. You're the best.

[drz]

I love you guys. Thanks. It's nice to hear that I'm not over reacting, but I knew that we'd be on the same page.

.

I think you are lucky to find out the doctor's true character before you really needed their care for an even more serious situation. Hopefully you will find a competent doctor that remembers patient care is what they are supposed to provide.

[Psyborg]

That's pretty deplorable treatment. What is it about some doctors that makes them think they are better than the rest of us? I get it, they are generally smart guys, but that doesn't mean everyone else are stupid. Especially given that this is such an obscure disease, they should just no better.

[Sangye]

Marta, I know what that's like, having had numerous docs treat me like that. Your symptoms are NOT trivial, and that list has me pretty concerned, actually. Please make every effort to see a new rheumy ASAP, okay? Wegs doesn't wait.

Meanwhile, hugs to you. Better to find our your doc is not the right one before you're in a full-blown crisis.

[marta]

Psyborg, I concur. I haven't had a reason to think otherwise of this guy before, but it really took me off guard. Like Brian said, he might have had a bad day and who knows what was going on in his life, but if he took the time to call me he could have been a little more helpful instead of using a rare opportunity to communicate with me to ream me out. Oh well, live and learn. He was appointed to me when I was in hospital and I haven't had a reason to look elsewhere, but now I do and who knows, I might find Dr. Perfect from this experience.

Sangye, I promise to get on it first thing Monday morning. When I get something in my head, it's as good as done. I'm a stubborn Bulgarian. ha ha. My symptoms could easily be a cold (one of the variables that I put in my letter, along with pred wean, flu shot aftereffects, flare, or changeover from cyclo to mtx - although the last one is only days old and my symptoms have been around for a couple of weeks at least) but what I was hoping for was a professional to look at it all and give me some feedback. Yeah, no kidding better now than when I really really need him.

Onward and forward.

[Sangye]

LOL Your persistence will pay off with Wegs.

I wouldn't be so fast to pass this off as a cold. A cold is not going to raise your ESR like that, and it won't give you joint pain. I also doubt that it would give you the bad headaches again. When was your flu shot? I don't remember who it was, but someone in our group said a flu shot brought them out of remission into a full-blown Wegs flare.

[marta]

Flu shot was on October 14 and my blood test with the ESRspike was October 15 ( I just had to look at my calendar to double check) I'm also sportin' a bladder infection - I know those pretty well, and will have to wait for Monday to get some antibiotics to take care of that bad boy. That's really frightening about flu shots triggering a full-blown flare. I've never - NEVER -had them before and they strongly recommended that I get them when I left the hospital in May. It made sense to me despite the fact that I've never been a big fan of the idea. Oh well, we'll figure it out and things will get better again in no time, I'm certain. If I have a flare then I have a flare. Despite the fact that I don't like the idea much, I know that upping the meds will take care of it and I'm OK with that, what I don't like is letting it smolder and cause damage without me knowing if it is active.

Monday, Monday...... ta daa, ta di da da...

[me2]

Marta, I'm so sorry recieved that kind of treatment. It is absolutly outrageous - and thats even if you HAVE cold. You should not have been talked to that way. Unfortunatly I have had similar experience with some doctors so I know how it feels. The worst of it is is that they are hitting you when you are down. I'm very impressed with the great questions you came up with and the way you dealt with it.
And YES headaches can be from WG . Good grief. I have suffered horrible headaches many times over the years. No good doc would dismiss that WITHOUT talking it through with you and TRYING to determine the cause. It is one thing to make a mistake about symptoms (that happens to the best and I never blame doc if they are at least taking them seriously and trying) but to be so dismissive and treat you so harsh when you are sick (doesn't matter from what) is just unconscionable.
I'm glad to hear that it sounds like you are the track of someone better able to deal with WG. Your doc might be a good guy, might be a good doc, but it doesn't sound to me like he is a good WG doc.
I wish you speedy relief and a quick course correction. Kirk
PS As a long time WG patient I keep antibiotics on hand just for those weekend binds or other delays in getting meds. I went on a trip to China once and my doc loaded me up with meds that I could treat myself with in case I got in trouble. Lots of prednisone (which I unfortunatly ended up needing) and antibiotics (which I didn't need). To this day I keep a box of large amounts of spare anything I might want to take. It gets used fairly frequently.

[elephant]

Marta, so glad you are moving on to another doctor, the symtoms you mentioned sound like a wegs flare to me. I had very bad headache before diagnosis and even had a ton on MRI because of it. Take this chance to find the right doctor, and please get in soon. You are a strong person and we will all help you get through this. Don't ever give up!