Something Serious Was Wrong - I Knew It! - My Doctors Didn't See It And Wouldn't LIsten

by Jackie
(England)

After over two years of being told I had a fungal nail infection with symptoms of raised nail bed and nail destruction, chronic infections, pain and eventual ulceration and being made to feel a nuisance by both my general doctor and dermatologist, I knew they were wrong and had a gut feeling that all was not well.

I saw another doctor for a second opinion and was told with no surprise to myself that I had an amelanotic acral melanoma and that this is quite rare.

I had to have half my finger amputated I was not in shock as I knew what was wrong, but am very angry that I was not taken seriously and was indeed made to feel that I was neurotic and time wasting.

I would urge anyone to listen to their gut instinct and the symptoms that the body is displaying.

If it feels wrong it is wrong! ...and not to listen to doctors who are not even sorry when they are proved wrong and that NOT ALL melanoma presents as a dark mole.

Mine had not pigment and did not follow the set route for such symptomology.

Doctors are not always the ones who know best, we the patients are.




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Something Serious Was Wrong - I Knew It! - My Doctors Didn't See It And Wouldn't LIsten

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by: Gary Harmon

Jackie, it's good that you are speaking out and I understand how frustrating a doctor can be when he doesn't listen.

Unfortunately many people face this kind of experience with their doctors. Part of it is their training, the amount of time they have to see a large number of patients and just plain insensitivity.

I've had a few very supportive doctors (out of many) over the years and it's good when you find them. Maybe when a doctor knows he's being asked for a second opinion it causes them to dig a little deeper and try harder.

I had one doctor who I had been seeing for years who worked hard to actually find the right treatment / medication for my problem. He would email charts to me so I could record my condition three times a day and then email it back to him just before my next appointment. He still didn't find an answer with medication that I could tolerate.

After a while he sent me to another specialist and later on another one. Eventually a medication was prescribed that I could live with and helped the problem better than anything before.

In time this favorite doctor of mine moved to another state, another hospital. On my final visit with him just before he left, he told me "....you know, I've learned a lot from you as a patient. I've always been hesitant to refer my patients to another specialist, thinking that I am capable of diagnosing and treating these things by myself. I've learned that sometimes I need to speak with other doctors for their opinion, after all you are my patient and my job is to help you."

I saw the other specialists and between the three of them this problem is very much under control and I can tolerate the medication much better. I'll always remember that doctor.

I've had a few others that I thought went the extra mile from the first time I was diagnosed with cancer and through the years.

Still yet, many treat you routinely and don't listen.

There's been a book written about this by a doctor who hurt his hand and needed a doctor. He went to six prominent surgeons and got four different opinions about what was wrong. The doctor was advised to have unnecessary surgery and got a seemingly made-up diagnosis for a nonexistent condition.

The doctor, Dr. Jerome Groopman, holds a chair at Harvard Medical School, eventually found a doctor who helped. He didn't stop wondering why those other doctors made the wrong diagnosis and that led him to write a book about their mistakes. The book is called How Doctors Think.

You can find some information about this doctor and what he says by copying and pasting the following in a Google Search.
-------- Groopman: The Doctor's In, But Is He Listening --------

I'm glad you found a better doctor!

Take care of yourself and your health.

Gary

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