Lately people have been voicing their opinion on a lot of the decisions I've made. The biggest decision I made recently was to leave my OB-GYN. At 32 weeks, I basically FIRED my doctor.
I know it sounds drastic, and maybe a little stupid, but I just couldn't deal with that office anymore. Pretty much since Christmas, I have wanted to leave them. But my boyfriend said that he trusted the doctor. She was the one who delivered his son (unbeknowst to me when I was looking for a doctor). He said there had been an issue when his son was being born, she had come in, figured it out right away, and saved his son. He said he felt good knowing I was in the hands of a doctor he was sure knew what they were doing, because he had seen first-hand. So I stayed.
In early December I went in for my regular appointment. I had scheduled my next 2-3 appointments back in November because I wanted only Saturdays, early morning if possible, because of work. When I was done with that appointment, the receptionist asked me if I wanted to schedule my next one. I told her I already had it set up. She looked and didn't see it. So I had to schedule it again.
I got a call a few days before my Saturday appointment (right before Christmas time) from the office stating my doctor was not going to be in on the Saturday I was scheduled for. So I needed to change my appointment. Since I have to work (and would be requesting off on such short notice), I asked for another Saturday. They said there were no openings until the middle of January--and I already had an appointment set up for around that time. I told her this was ridiculous, but rescheduled it AGAIN. This time I had it for the Wednesday after Christmas, at like 11am. So I had to take a half day off work. Not ideal, but I wanted to make sure I stayed on task with the appointments, like I was supposed to.
Fast forward to Dec 26th: I got a call at 9:30am from the Dr.'s office. They had to reschedule my appointment AGAIN!! This time because the heat went out. Now I said it then and I'll say it now: If it had just been this, I would have been fine with rescheduling. But the fact is this was the 3rd time!! And given the fact they told me the last time I rescheduled they didn't have any Saturdays available for a while; I was beyond irritated. Amazingly enough though, suddenly they could see me on January 5th at 9am. Funny how that happens!
Okay. That was irritating, but not insurmountable. Then in February I asked about getting my order for the 20week ultrasound a little earlier (at like my 18wk appointment instead of after the 20weeks). This again is because of work: I do not want to take off of work if it's not absolutely necessary. And since I knew the office I would have to go to for the ultrasound wouldn't be able to see me for a few weeks after I called, I wanted it early... so I could schedule it for right at 20 weeks.
I went to the ultrasound appointment the day before my dr's appointment (only time they had available...see, I knew!). When I get to my doctor, she asks me when I am supposed to go for my ultrasound. I told her I had gone the day before and the doctor had said he would send the results. She seemed shocked by this. When she checked my file again, there was the info! That week they gave me the orders for my glucose test, but only after I asked multiple times for it. (SCHEDULING! You would think they would get it by now!)
Four weeks later I went to the doctor. Three things stood out at that appointment which didn't sit well with me. The first: I signed in and was told to wait right there, because there was someone in the bathroom, but it would only be about 10seconds. Yep, not that long later, the receptionist tells me the bathroom is open. Except she called me another name! I mean, I barely had time to turn my back to her to wait and she either 1) forgot my name or 2) just didn't care and called me whatever popped into her head. Second: When I went into the room, it was set up for a new patient. I was 26 weeks pregnant... so I wasn't sure what was going on. Turns out they had grabbed the wrong folder and set it up for a different patient. Third: They tried to give me the glucose test orders again!! Even though the doctor and I had gone over my result at this appointment!
After a while, I called to schedule the remaining appointments. Since they were going to be more frequent, and there were a lot of plans trying to be made--you know, what with it going to be the summer and all--I wanted all the appointments set up so I could work around them. I called and got it all done. One of my appointments in April was cancelled. They asked if I wanted to reschedule for May 4th, but I said no because I had one for May 11th. That didn't make sense. They agreed and we moved on.
April 30th I got a call stating my doctor no longer wanted to work Saturdays, so I had to reschedule ALL my appointments! Fine. Whatever. I rescheduled them all for the Tuesday after. At that time, I tried to schedule an appointment for July 2nd. I was told the Dr. wouldn't be in that day. I asked about the 3rd. She said no. The 4th is a holiday, and my baby is due the 7th. So, you're telling me the doctor who is supposed to deliver my baby won't be seeing me for 2weeks before she's due? I asked about the other doctor working there and was told she was out-of-network. I could see her, but it would all be out of pocket. No thank you. That's why I CHOSE an in-network doctor! That had me really frustrated, so I began talking about changing doctors again. Again, my boyfriend said I should stay because he had seen her work.
On May 7th I ended up in the hospital. Turned out to not be anything "major" (infection exacerbated by stress), but it was enough to scare me. I called my doctor's office 3 times before I went in. I asked them to tell me ANY REASON it would be/could be besides pre-term labor, so I wouldn't have to go to the hospital. They told me I needed to go RIGHT THEN! (Way to freak a new mom out!) When I got there, the nurse asked if I had been experiencing any pre-term labor issues before. I told her "Not that I'm aware of." ... After it was all said and done and I was told to go home, I was also told to go see my doc on 5/14. Okay, no problem. I have an appointment for that day already so it works out. Good.
Okay, so fast forward to May 13th and I get a call at 3pm. They are cancelling my appointment for the next day because THE DOCTOR IS OUT OF TOWN! REALLY?? I JUST rescheduled this appointment like 2 weeks ago? I asked when they knew she wouldn't be there and they said before the call they made on 4/30. I asked why I was scheduled for this day then. They said the call they had made was to reschedule this appt. I told them that was a LIE because I wasn't scheduled for this day at that time. I was scheduled for May 11th. But she didn't want to work Saturdays, so I was changed to this day. And now, like 24 hours before the appointment, they want to cancel it? I asked when they would want to see me next. They said since I already had an appointment for 5/28, that would be fine. EXCUSE ME? I wouldn't have seen a doctor in 2 whole months by then! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
That's when I started talking to one of the receptionists. I told her my issues. She said I could see the other Dr. I told her I was informed this other doctor was out of network. She said that was wrong. (UGH). Then she said she would call me back with another appointment time with the other doctor so I could be seen that same week. At 4pm I got a call stating I could be seen Thursday at 12noon. (Mind you, I didn't get the call until 5pm, because I was at work and can't check my phone.) NO THANK YOU! I WORK! I mean, how do they think it's acceptable to cancel my appointments like this, then only let me give my boss like 2 days notice that I have to take almost an entire day off?!? I called the answering service and told them to tell the office to cancel ALL my appointments. I would be finding another doctor. I was done with this terrible treatment, being lied to, inconsistency, etc.
I got a call back from the lead receptionist and she said they would give me my medical records without the fee. How magnanimous of them. I said I wanted the release form faxed to my work by 8am the next day, so I could fill it out and send it back ASAP. I wanted my records on hand when I called around for a new doctor.
Tuesday. 8am comes. No records release. I called them and demanded they fax it right then. Finally got it. Filled it out and requested to have the records sent to me the same day. It took me almost 6 hours to find a new doctor because most don't want to see a new patient after 20weeks. Finally found one and they asked for my medical records. Still didn't have them by then, so I called the old office and demanded they send them now.
Later that night I was looking them over and noticed 2 glaringly obvious issues. First: They had indicated I planned to bottle feed. Not accurate. My boyfriend and I have discussed endlessly the pros and cons of breastfeeding and have elected to go that route. Supplemental bottle feeding when necessary. Say I can't produce enough; then we would also give formula because I won't let my baby be hungry. Or if I have to leave her with someone; just to be on the safe side, I would leave bagged milk and a pre-made bottle of formula. Things like that. But we both know the benefits of breastfeeding and know that is the route we are going to attempt first.
Second: As of March 30th, I was exhibiting signs of pre-term labor. WHAT. THE..... Yeah seriously! Never once did they mention this to me. They didn't tell my nurse when I was at the L&D. Nothing. I happen to think that is something VERY serious to overlook. What if it hadn't been just an infection? What if it had been something relating to the pre-term labor, but I wasn't aware of it? And they didn't tell my nurse. I almost want to say that's malpractice!
*SOOOO* glad I switched from them. Especially after reading over my records and finding out what they hadn't told me. Made me feel much more secure in my decision.
Want to know the final nail in the coffin. On May 17th I received a letter in the mail. Dated May 6th. Stating my doctor was no longer going to be working out of that office as of June 30th. Again, something they should have mentioned at any point during my conversation with them on 5/13! Then I could have switched to the other apparently in-network doctor for my remaining appts. But no. Because they didn't feel the need to be open with me--on ANYTHING--I don't want to see them on something as serious as the health and well-being of my baby.
Now, you may be wondering how my boyfriend is reacting to all this, considering how strongly he fought for me to stay. Needless to say, after he heard about everything, lain out just as I have done here, he was more than okay with it. He said that when he thought about it, it wasn't the doctor who saved his son's birth. It was the nurse who caught the issue. Yes, the doctor had delivered the baby quickly, but she wasn't the one to determine what was wrong. He feels MUCH BETTER about me leaving now. And when he heard about the pre-term labor at 26weeks not being disclosed, he was just as livid as I was/am.
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