DR appointment from hell

May 23, 2011

So I had surgery on 11-29-2010.  I went back for my 2-3 week follow up and then my insurance got cancelled.  I searched high and low for plans that I might be able to afford on my own....found nothing.  I pushed and pushed my employer....the plans they have are so extremely expensive I literally wouldn't be able to pay the bills and afford insuranace at the same time.  So I kept searching, kept asking around....5 months went by.   Finally my employer agreed to pay for my visit, so I called the surgeon and got the first appontment that I could get.  I was excited to go back, get weighed and get his input.
BOY was I in for a shock.  First I saw the nurse, very nice, very polite.  Then a different doctor came in, he talked to me about my weight loss and introduced himself as my surgeons "right hand man".  He was very nice as well.  Then he came back to the room with my surgeon...we will call him Dr.B.  Dr. B looked at me and said "I can't be your doctor anymore".  I asked why and he said "I am not going to be responsible for someone who is not responsible for themselves".  I was a little in shock, didn't really know what to say.  He said "you can't have surgery like you have a hair cut and then never follow up".  I started to speak and he cut me off.  He said "have you taken your prescription acid reducers?"  And I said no because I don't have a refill...he said "exactly so when you get an ulcer don't come to see me".  He said "have you had b12 shots", I said no, he said "right so you have a deficency now, what do you plan on doing about that?".  I said well I went to see my PCP at one month out and she said, he cut me off again and said "I don't care what she said".  He said "you will get a certified letter from me expressing that I can not be your doctor anymore so I do not know what you are going to do".  By this time I am crying because 1) he won't listen to me and 2) he is making me feel like crap for no reason.  I finally got to tell him that my insurance was cancelled and I had made every attempt to get coverage so I could come back.  He said he didn't care and that "coming to see him was more important then putting food on my table".  He said he doesn't know what I spend my money on but I need to prioritize.  I told him there was no way I could afford office visits, labs, etc...out of pocket.  He said he didn't care.  He said he would see me anyway and try to write the appointment off.  Ok, how was I suppose to know that before that very moment?  What surgeon's do you know will just see a person no payment invovled?  I don't know of any.  I believe that if someone does something for you they should get paid.  I have bad enough credit as it is, I don't want to rack up more bills that I know I can't pay.  He didn't care and wouldn't even listen.  He asked me if I had a Sams Club card.  I told him no, but I could borrow one.  The other doctor that came in first was in the room for all of this.  He got out his wallet and handed me his Sams club card and told me to go get prilosec and Boost that it was cheaper at Sams.  Dr. B looked at me and said "he clearly thinks you are more responsible then I do"....still I was balling my head off.  He said "I will give you one more change, I am going to make you a 3 month appointment, if you don't show up you will get that certified letter".  He said he was going to give me a b12 shot and he left the room.  The other doctor sat in there with me telling me he was sorry and that he knows things are hard.  The nurse came back in she appologized said she could hear him all the way in the hall.
So now I am confused.  Do I find another doctor to handle my follow up care?  Dr. B didn't help me with my current issues, he didn't do labs, nothing.  He yelled at me, made me feel stupid, and sent me on my way. 

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