Here you will find the place on TWC to voice your opinions about doctors. E-mail your comments for inclusion on this page. I do ask that if you wish to voice negative comments about a doctor that you do not include your doctor's name. This is for your own good. :-)
Colby: I'm Colby and I'm 14, and I wanted to tell you about my doctors and nurses. A lot of times I like my med students better than my docs, they haven't been around long enough to get all full of themselves and mean and stuff. But some of my docs are great and nice, I have 2 favorites who always hang out with me and cheer me up when I'm sick. They are cool, and so are my nurses.
Lea: I used to be able to tolerate doctors, but now I cringe every time
one is mentioned. This is for two reasons: one, I'm going through a
flare-up right now and I think it's all because my doctor brushed it off as
nothing when I first complained of painful stomach aches. She said, "Wait
a month, then if it gets worse we'll do something." At this point I
feel like saying to her, "Here's a dog with rabies, it just bit your arm, I know
your going to turn into a werewolf soon, but lets wait a month, just to make
sure." Reason two is that they never treat you as equals. ~I'm just a
kid, why should I need to know what's really going on in my body? ~or~ I won't
understand half of what the doctor is telling me, so why bother, right?~ WRONG!
*doctors, can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em*
Brittney: I am blessed in the fact that I have a great
doctor and nurse. His nurse and staff always greet me with a
smile on their face, and can always cheer me up when I am sick.
My doctor and I get along quite well. While most doctors will put
you on mega doses of steroids when a flare-up first occurs, my
doctor is willing to try other medications first. He knows how
much I hate steroids. Having Crohn's disease has made me have a
great interest in the medical field. I worked in a teenage
volunteer center last summer at a local hospital. My doctor knows
of my interest in the medical field, and let me join him on a
few procedures last summer. Don't worry if your doctor is
straight out of medical school! My doctor is, and seems to be on
top of everything. I was one of his first patients! While we don't
always agree on things, he somehow manages to find a way to work
things out to where we are both happy. I couldn't ask for a
better doctor!
Heat1: I think I am terribly lucky to have a GI doctor like mine. She is really great! She actually listens to what I have to say! She tries everything to get me off and keep me off of steroids! She listens to me and tries to do what I want to do and what is best for ME! The first visit to her she spent forever with us and listened and didn't blow us off. She didn't make me do the same tests over and over either! (that's good because I hate barium and people shoving things up my butt! LOL :-) ) I have heard some people who hate their GI and keep trying out new ones. I have had this one from the beginning of 99 and still have her! (It's now January 2000) She was the first one we tried out! I guess we were just lucky. I like her and she even calls from HOME on the WEEKENDS! I mean she cares that much just to call me! Recently she went on a trip and though that she might get snowed in. ( I had just started on 6MP and we were messing around with my drugs and their doses) So, she told my mom she would call us FROM THE AIRPORT if she got snowed in! Now how many doctors would do that? She even has my phone number memorized! I don't think I could ask for a better doctor! She is really great and I hope everyone finds a great GI like her! Good Luck in your search!
Renton: I started getting really sick in March of this year. It was right before my trip to Mexico so I went to see my family doctor (#1) She told me that I had eaten something bad and to just take it easy. While in Mexico I was sick the entire time and making myself sicker. Drinking, eating badly, over exerting myself physically, throwing up everything I ate, diarrhea the entire trip (which isn't uncommon in Mexico), and just plain killing myself. Well I get back 8 days later with a killer tan and some weight loss (actually about 12lbs) I felt awful and every visit to #1 yielded a new diagnosis: upset stomach, food poisoning, ulcers, stress, flu, bacteria, virus, and the list goes on. Finally a referral to a "specialist" (#2) after several tests (endoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, a few barium x-rays, the works) and some really crappy treatment by the doctor and his staff i got a final prognosis: it was all in my head.! H! A!!! still sick for three more months and I go to a new specialist. Dr. Len at the children's hospital. she does a colonoscopy and clearly sees how diseased my intestines are. I've been on meds and a new diet since. I'm still sick all the time but to have it validated by a doctor that the pain isn't in my head is so important. Don't ever let a doctor tell you that.
"Elm": I'm not a teen but I have years of experience I'd like to share with all of you. Not all doctor's are the same. I've had plenty and they range from the "Let's get you well ASAP" to the " Let's just wait and see what happens". The best advice I can give you is to always be honest with your Dr. and no matter how embarrassing, tell him/her everything, and don't be afraid to ask questions. Especially if you're scared. Remember if it sounds like it's too much....there's always another way. As far as waiting to see what happens, don't wait too long. Just because they're Drs. it doesn't mean they always know what they're doing. It's your body and you know it better than anyone and you shouldn't have to be uncomfortable. It's ok to demand help from these guys!
Sandra: I'm a little bitter because I went through seven years of my life in pain and time after time, different doctors misdiagnosed me. I can't even begin to tell you how many different doctors I have seen in the course of my life that made me feel like I wasn't "important" enough of an issue. They all failed to realize that a young girl getting constant pain in the same area for years....hmmm, something major had to be up. Finally my new family doctor referred me to a great gastro doctor who has changed my life! He instantly diagnosed me and made me feel like more than just another patient. I only wish the doctors I've seen years before him took half the time out that he takes with me. He always checks up on me, makes sure I haven't had much pain, and makes me feel important. He's what all doctors should be like.
Wojtek: It was difficult for me to get diagnosed. I kept going to my family doctor whenever the pains got really bad, and he would make me take a stool sample and blood test. Of course they came out negative for whatever he was looking for, and no matter how many times we asked him to refer me to a specialist, he wouldn't! He didn't think it was anything, and just kept telling me that its an eating problem. That I should eat more fruits and vegetables, and get more fiber in my diet. Luckily I still didn't listen to him, I knew somehow unconsciously that those foods were causing me this pain, but if I followed what he told me to do, I would of ended up in the hospital just from the pain alone. After many attacks of the disease, we finally gave up on that doctor and went to the next. This one actually found that I had some virus or bacteria that causes ulcers. She sent me for ultrasound and x-rays of my stomach, and soon enough I was on prescription drugs. One of them contained Flagyl, so no wonder I felt good for a month or so. But then the pains came back, at which she sent me to an amazing GI who immediately knew what I had and sent me for tests to make sure. But my problem was getting to a GI, luckily the second doctor wasn't as stubborn as the first, otherwise I would be in more trouble. This whole thing took like 2-3 years to diagnose I had Crohn's. The GI I have now, actually seems to ignore me. Doesn't check up on me, she just left me thinking I'll be ok. But the side effects from my medication is giving me acne, and it doesn't seem to be helping. Currently I'm looking for another GI, and looking to get the surgery to get this over with, at least a break. The things I went through when not knowing what is wrong with me is unbelievable. I was constantly getting in trouble cause I didn't want to eat, and even grew afraid of a lot of food altogether. I actually started to believe it was a psychological problem I have from all the people constantly telling me so, that I wanted to see a psychiatrist, but my parents wouldn't let me. They just said to talk to the family friend who is one about it. But really, I don't want to talk to a friend of my parents about my problems, so I never did that. I went thru hell, I ended up from being slightly over weight (but healthy) to really skinny. Never was able to gain weight, constant problems. My confidence dropped quite low. I was one big wreck especially when my best friend backstabbed me and I had no friends at one point. But I just stuck in there, never thought about suicide, thank God. Everything got better, I'm still underweight now, still get attacks and pains, and have troubles gaining weight. The medication I'm getting doesn't seem to help, its more the diet that I'm on that's making a difference. The medication I'm taking is only causing acne, other then that, I don't see any other effects.
Elizabeth: I have a great doc. It took me a while to find my doctor, it went like this... normal pediatrician, immunologist, good immunologist, gastro-intestinal doctor. My good immunologist was the one to recognize that my stomach aches were their own deal not a side effect from meds. He and his staff have been so helpful, I've recently been recommended to the gastro-intestinal doctor by my immunologist. They first thought I had chronic lung disease or an immune deficiency, but now we know I have Crohn's. My doctor (immunologist (who I still see)) is very protective of me... it's cute. Yesterday I was having breathing problems, and stomach aches, and couldn't reach the new doc, so he actually went to her office to inquire with her partner. It's probably helpful that he has a daughter my age. I don't know how I could get through this without them!!! (=
Tina: I think I'm about one of the luckiest teens with Crohn's. My doctor's and clinic nurses are absolutely fabulous. I love them to bits! When I first was diagnosed with it, I could see that they cared but I wasn't all to sure about them. But then next time I had came back I had lost 25 pounds leaving me at 85 pounds, when I was 14. Well I was trying really hard to gain weight back and when I found out that I had lost. Well...I just burst out in tears.. I was so upset.. Then 2 of the clinic nurses took me out of the waiting room with my mom and said not to worry and that they would try anything and everything to get me back on track. For my doctor. Well I went back to the hospital for another check up last month. and he was really upset and concerned about my condition. I was loosing weight and I was malnutrition (you know like those poor l'il children who live in those third world countries who have poor living conditions and hardly any food with bad water and stuff) He was so supportive. I swear my doctors and nurses are the best.
Manon: I found my old doctor, who I have nicknamed "Dr. Maurau"
she loved to give me blood tests, if she could she would have me living in the
lab area. I am glad she moved now, since she talked really fast, I could barely
hear a word out of her mouth, and when my mom suggested it might be Crohn's (my
aunt had it, and she saw my aunts condition) the doctor said I was too young for
Crohn's, we saw other doctors. "It's just a throat infection" or
"The stress of school is to much for him". I've heard it all. Now I
have a wonderful doctor, he is very interested in Crohn's, and he is great with
his patients. he only has two Crohn's patients, (me and my aunt) but for these
two people, waiting is not an option, we are in the doctors office, usually,
people wait for about 2-3 hours, we get strait in, which helps a lot. so I want
to say thanks to that special doctor, though he may never know it, he's the
best.
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