Posted by badhaircut on September 3, 2003, at 9:41:40
How do I ask for a different doctor in the same clinic without making the situation worse?
I've been treatment-resistant unipolar for 16 years. My pdoc (call him "Fred") wants me to have bilateral ECT. I don't want it yet, but that doesn't deter him.
At each of our 3 appointments I've said, "I'll consider ECT, but I want to try other drugs first." Fred just says, "I have a lot more hope for success with ECT than with more drugs," and he's making a consultation appointment for me with the ECT doctors. (Fred doesn't do ECT.) He said the ECT docs will be able to talk me out of my objections better than he can.
I *am* willing to try ECT, but I want to try less-disruptive treatments first, like some of the combos and off-label meds talked about here. My former pdoc said no one in my town (including her) would prescribe like that. I went to Fred's clinic (1½ hours away) because it's in a major university hospital system and I thought I could get aggressive psychopharmacology there. I was assigned to Fred.
He's a nice enough guy, but I think he's been trained to objectify patients and prefers dealing in textbook bullet-points. I don't want to go back to him and use up another 20-min session resisting ECT.
My question is: Are intra-clinic politics such that I'll be labeled "difficult" if I ask for a different doctor in the same clinic? Maybe other pdocs in the hospital won't want to treat me if I offend their colleague by switching? Fred's supervisor, who sat in on my first appt, also advised ECT.
Would I do better to screw my courage and call Fred directly about switching? He does encourage me to call him if needed. Would I be out of line to call the clinic's psych nurse and ask her about it?
I feel like I'll get a little mark on my file like Elaine did on 'Seinfeld' and no one at the clinic will respect me as a patient.
I could give up and go to the yellow pages, but an intake somewhere else would cost $200-$400, plus waiting 4-6 weeks, and even then maybe I'd get another Fred. It's making me more depressed.
Any input appreciated. (But please understand, my question is NOT about ECT. It's about how to ask for a different doctor.) Thanks for reading.
-badhaircut
poster:badhaircut
thread:256607
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030902/msgs/256607.html