second guessing a doctor

[kaysixteen]

I like what caracal is saying.   I agree that it is really unwise for me, a layman, to debate with or seriously equate myself, the medical expert, especially specialists dealing with whatever specific condition I present with.  Expertise is a good thing, and Americans are usually none too effective in accepting this.

That said, there is also the point regarding her busyness, and that is amplified in this particular setting because, when I am there, especially in a non-scheduled emergency setting prompted by an eye flare-up, there I am sitting in an exam chair, tilted back to essentially 180 degrees, glasses off and eyes dilated to the point of being able to see very little, certainly almost nothing clearly, and having a doc shine bright, very bright, flashlights directly into my eyes.   This is not the atmosphere best conducive to in-depth, reasoned conversations.

[Ruralguy]

You could set up a non-emergency appointment. I don't know how insurance would deal with it, it depends on where you live and what kind of plan you have, but that might be the best way to deal with it.

[histchick]

Does the eye doctor have any sort of e-mail / patient portal? I like that option for my own doctor, especially when I get home and think about a question I hadn't asked during the appointment. 

[kaysixteen]

It wouldn't make any difference.   I know what is going wrong, can clearly see it.  I also know that treatment #1 did not work, as I can clearly see that too.   So the only real option is treatment #2, which of course I would have to be in the office to get.

[Hegemony]

You can go in just for a consultation and conversation, without other treatments or actions. That's reasonable and common.

[kaysixteen]

Sure, I do that regularly, for periodic scheduled exams.   Now, on the other hand, some treatment will be imperative.

[kaysixteen]

So I went back today, for the follow-up.   It was very brief, and all she did was just give me the steroid shot.   She did not actually examine the eye before doing this, nor did she or her med tech ask me any questions beforehand.   After getting the shot, the doc wished me a good day and turned to leave, telling me to come back for another shot in 2 months, unless eye got worse (then call and come in eariier), but I did stop her and ask whether some laser treatment might actually be better.   She quickly reviewed picture of the eye and determined that she did not think I really qualified for any more such treatment in this eye (though I had had much much less of it in this eye than in the other, and none for 7 years).   I then  tried to explain what had happened in this eye after the last shot two months ago, tried hard, but do not think she understood what I was getting at-- her answer strongly suggests this to me.  She was obviously eager to leave, and I was sitting in the exam chair, just having had a needle stuck into my eye, etc., and I did not press.   

Damn I do not think I was wrong, in my assessment a few years ago, that I should have chosen one of the other docs in the practice.   I only went back to her in April because of the emergency nature of the problem then.   I hate thinking this, but I am coming very close to deciding to ditching this practice, even though this practice, meaning the whole practice with maybe 15 sites in the Greater Boston area, is one of the two head-and-shoulders above the rest elite ophthalmology ones in this area.   An hour ride for this just does not seem, well....

[histchick]

So I went back today, for the follow-up.   It was very brief, and all she did was just give me the steroid shot.   She did not actually examine the eye before doing this, nor did she or her med tech ask me any questions beforehand.   After getting the shot, the doc wished me a good day and turned to leave, telling me to come back for another shot in 2 months, unless eye got worse (then call and come in eariier), but I did stop her and ask whether some laser treatment might actually be better.   She quickly reviewed picture of the eye and determined that she did not think I really qualified for any more such treatment in this eye (though I had had much much less of it in this eye than in the other, and none for 7 years).   I then  tried to explain what had happened in this eye after the last shot two months ago, tried hard, but do not think she understood what I was getting at-- her answer strongly suggests this to me.  She was obviously eager to leave, and I was sitting in the exam chair, just having had a needle stuck into my eye, etc., and I did not press.   

Damn I do not think I was wrong, in my assessment a few years ago, that I should have chosen one of the other docs in the practice.   I only went back to her in April because of the emergency nature of the problem then.   I hate thinking this, but I am coming very close to deciding to ditching this practice, even though this practice, meaning the whole practice with maybe 15 sites in the Greater Boston area, is one of the two head-and-shoulders above the rest elite ophthalmology ones in this area.   An hour ride for this just does not seem, well....

Is it possible to try another doctor in the practice?  I would suggest that before ditching the whole practice itself. 

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

So I went back today, for the follow-up.   It was very brief, and all she did was just give me the steroid shot.   She did not actually examine the eye before doing this, nor did she or her med tech ask me any questions beforehand.   After getting the shot, the doc wished me a good day and turned to leave, telling me to come back for another shot in 2 months, unless eye got worse (then call and come in eariier), but I did stop her and ask whether some laser treatment might actually be better.   She quickly reviewed picture of the eye and determined that she did not think I really qualified for any more such treatment in this eye (though I had had much much less of it in this eye than in the other, and none for 7 years).   I then  tried to explain what had happened in this eye after the last shot two months ago, tried hard, but do not think she understood what I was getting at-- her answer strongly suggests this to me.  She was obviously eager to leave, and I was sitting in the exam chair, just having had a needle stuck into my eye, etc., and I did not press.   

Damn I do not think I was wrong, in my assessment a few years ago, that I should have chosen one of the other docs in the practice.   I only went back to her in April because of the emergency nature of the problem then.   I hate thinking this, but I am coming very close to deciding to ditching this practice, even though this practice, meaning the whole practice with maybe 15 sites in the Greater Boston area, is one of the two head-and-shoulders above the rest elite ophthalmology ones in this area.   An hour ride for this just does not seem, well....

Is it possible to try another doctor in the practice?  I would suggest that before ditching the whole practice itself.

Seconded.

[mamselle]

Some practices discourage that.

M.