A few days ago I went to an ophthalmologist who has been checking my eye pressure for 5 or 6 years. Ordinarily my eye pressure would have been high but they have discovered that people with a thicker cornea have higher pressures but it's normal and not to worry about glaucoma.
So this was the start of many regular checks from this ophthalmologist
He is known as very abrupt with very few words however he is known as a good ophthalmologist.
My visit this week was not pleasant. You go through a series of three test stations. The first station was with the eye chart and pressure measurement. The "tester" tried about 10 times for each eye and didn't get a pressure measurement. Her machine said that I had blinked. No one has ever had to give me more that one shot of air to measure my eye pressure. She also put some kind of drops in my eyes. Then someone came to the door and called her out and said it was necessary. I sat for 20 minutes without explanation. Two people walked in and out without communication. Then someone came in to complete the tests. They retook my eye pressure and put in more drops even though I told them I had drops. By this time I was somewhat upset. I contemplated just leaving. The rude "tester" took me to do the peripheral test. I was so unnerved by this time that when asked to take off my glasses , I told her they were in my pocket and she rudely said , "You're wearing them."
After the three sets of tests, his royal highness saw me. His conclusion:(1) you're seeing alright and (2) you don't have cataracts.
Well unknown to him, my optometrist decided I should have cataracts removed. I have been referred to another ophthalmologist .
So the staff was rude and the guy's conclusions were both off the mark. In the last year and a half my vision has deteriorated.
So never again will I visit this guy.
I'm fairly tolerant but not tolerant to put up with this service.
I'm sorry you had to deal with all that Red. I absolutely agree with you that you should not put up with that kind of lack of service. There have been a few times I've run into similar situations and I did the same as you - never went back!
ReplyDeleteFortunately we do have choices here.
DeleteWow, what an experience. I'm 100% with you ... never see the guy again. He is just floating along on his reputation. And it sounds like that will be changing.
ReplyDeleteI think he has the skills but no bedside manner.
DeleteI have mobility issues in my legs right now. At my retinal specialist I have to go first into a room where she checked my vision, then go back out to the waiting room for however long it takes and then go into another room where they put the drops in my eyes to do the glaucoma test, then I have to struggle out of that chair to get back to my walker to go back out to the waiting room another time for an unspecified amount of time. Then my name is called again and I hobble with my walker down to the other end of the hall to get images of my retina done, into another chair I go and scoot up to the machine for my pictures. That done, I manage to get from their chair back to my walker, where I hobble march myself back up the hall to where I was before the images, once again I wait for an unspecified amount of time to be called into the doctor where he will tell me what they saw, and retake my glaucoma test in one eye and it is fine this second time. The surgeon/doctor spends all of about 4 minutes to tell me what is going on in my eye and then politely gets up says goodbye and leaves to the other office for the doctor to talk to people. They alternate the offices, so another person is waiting for their 4 minutes with the surgeon/doctor in the other office. All of this takes two hours to 2 1/2 hours on a good day and longer on a bad day. Can't there be a better way. I would like to stay in one room and have equipment all around the room to be wheeled to me. I go home with my legs aching after all of that. Apparently this surgeons' group office is very popular because it is always crowded.
ReplyDeleteSo far the workers are all polite including the doctor,or I would not be able to stand it. All of the visits to this place were because I had a macular hole in my eye. Thankfully, it healed and I will have some vision after my glasses are corrected. I would have had better reesults had I had the surgery sooner,but I did not think I could keep my head and eyes pointed downward for most of a week. I finally decided to try and they eye healed,but may not recover as much vision as possible because I waited so long. I had a large cataract removed right after they discovered the macular hole, many months before the macular hole surgery was done. The cataract surgery was not a miserable surgery and heals pretty fast.
Good luck to you with your vision.
They make things for the biggest buck and not patients who have difficulties. I hope this it the last time you have to worry about eyes.
DeleteOMG, some of these specialist offices are so rude and mightier than thou. I went to one who I learned was the highest biller of medical services in province or in the top two billers (I saw both of them for different reasons). Anyway the guy was well known and considered good. He was always polite but the waiting room was always like a cattle pen. Too darn crowded. He told me I should contemplate getting cataract surgery because I wanted lasik and he made a good point that I was getting too old and would later need surgery. So that day I asked him for reading prescription. He got it so badly wrong that it scared me and I made sure I went to someone else for the actual surgery. It makes me wonder how many surgeries he botched up all the while getting wealthy. I'm glad you got a different referral.
ReplyDeleteWe are at the mercy of some of these professionals.
DeleteGood for you Some professionals think they have the right to act like god - they deserve to be ignored. There are others around who can be just as good and professionl.
ReplyDeleteSome of them have no bedside manner at all. I don't know if you've read the Irish country doctor series but he does so much with just good cheer.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteA good eye doctor is so important. I am sorry you had such an awful experience. I do not enjoy having my eyes dilated for these eye checkups. I see an eye specialist for Sjogrens and dry eyes. Take good care of your eyes and vision. Have a happy weekend!
I find it difficult to wear sunglasses so I know I'm risking some problems.
DeleteWhat the heck was going on there? Seems like an unhappy workplace.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely not a pleasant place to work...new staff every time you visit.
DeleteThat's unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteI really should have got up and left.
DeleteThat sounds awful. And you probably had to pay him anyway. I do hope you find a good eye doctor, Red.
ReplyDeleteAll our medical is paid but still he shouldn't have been paid. We have choices here.
Deleteoh this was upsetting indeed .
ReplyDeletewhile reading all you went through i once thought you might visited one of our government hospital dear Red .
i am sorry i can relate because such behaviors are familiar to me .i feel grateful that we are able to visit in private hospitals since some years but still ocean of people still in my mind wh are forced to face such irresponsible and humiliating treatment .
i hope and pray your eyes get better after treatment required amen!
We have a very good medical system but there will always be unlikeable professionals.
DeleteI'm glad your optometrist referred you to ophthalmologist who will do the cataract surgery. I hope all goes well with your new doc, and I am glad you moved on from the one who didn't notice the cataracts.
ReplyDeleteHey better yet, my optometrist is a former student.
DeleteThe worst part is the dismissive, rude treatment! Who needs that?
ReplyDeleteYes, many people are afraid to go to the guy.
DeleteTime for a change, I wouldn't go back to that doctor either. Being rude is so unprofessional, I probably would have made it worst by calling out their rudeness. Good luck with finding a nicer doctor.
ReplyDeleteWe are a big enough area that we have choices here.
DeleteSuch poor service so sorry this happened to you. Hope the next guy is better:)
ReplyDeleteWe have choices here. I have been to the guy that I'm going to see next.
DeleteWell, that's not good at all. I hope you get things straightened out with the new ophthalmologist. I once had a dentist who had no beside manner at all. He was curt to the point of rudeness, and his office staff was no better. But he had a thriving practice, and I always figured he must have been a great dentist who really knew what he was doing. Honestly, I never had a problem with him. Then he retired. My new dentist is a lot nicer. But I don't think he's quite as skilled in dentistry. All by way of saying ... it's hard to find a good medical practitioner, so I wish you well.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to find someone who has it all. My optometrist is a former student. How lucky can I get.
DeleteAsk around your friends to find a better doctor. That is terrible service and you are right to be upset, Red!
ReplyDeleteMy optometrist has me lined up with another doc. We have choices here.
DeleteThis is not good treatment at all. That's kind of how I felt the first time I visited a new dentist, so I had to work to soften them up and get them to talk to me. Now they are all wonderful. But maybe not in your case. Time to move on.
ReplyDeleteThis guy isn't going to chance. I've been to another guy here so I know what's out there.
DeleteI am so sorry for what you faced. I always think about what I could have said or done after an incident. Have you thought of reporting him? It might help someone else.
ReplyDeleteI believe the guy is competent. His bedside manner is terrible.
DeleteGood for you, Red. I like my GP very much, but she has moved into a new practice. The staff there is new and inexperienced, and as much as I can forgive that part of things, it gets a little frustrating. I had three prescriptions renewed. They only called two in. I called to ask if the doctor had discontinued one. They said that it was probably a mistake and that they would call it in. I said, "Well, double make sure that the doctor didn't discontinue it." They called the prescription in to the wrong pharmacy which wanted to charge me $99 rather than the $15 that I am charged at the insurance approved pharmacy. I called back to tell them. They said they'd fix it. The prescription did not arrive (mail order) and so before I called them, I called the doctor's office to make sure that it had actually been called in. I was rudely told it had already been faxed. I called the pharmacy. You guessed right. Never called in. I called the doctor's office back. It had been faxed. Under further investigation, it had been faxed alright. To the wrong pharmacy. Remember that two prescriptions went to the right place.
ReplyDeletethe Micro Manager had the same thing happen to her this week.
DeleteIt seems there were mistakes going on there and no one would own up. In my case I call it old lady medicine, but I guess you can call it old man medicine.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about old people medicine. Sometimes we get second rate treatment.
DeleteThat was terrible service. No wonder you are going to another ophthalmologist!
ReplyDeletethe guy is well known for a poor rapport with patients.
ReplyDeleteI left my dentist of 20 years because the surgery was difficult to access. He promised I could park at the back where it was easier but staff were reluctant to open the gate for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you put your foot down. These guys can do better
I think you are a very tolerant, easy-going guy. At least that is how you have always come across in blogging. Some people don't seem to appreciate that it is "customers" who butter their bread.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, I wouldn't go back to them either. I had a dentist like that and his staff were terrible. Bad enough that I am nervous at the dentist. My other dentist who was wonderful had just retired and this person took over his practice, complete with his own staff. Sheesh! Never went back, they were all just as bad as each other! We shouldn't have to put up with their bad days should we?
ReplyDeleteOh sheesh! That's awful, Red. I wonder if you can leave a review of the service you got there on the internet. People should be warned.
ReplyDelete