I need to vent my frustration - going to a specialist

Littlejen22

DD has been in physical therapy for 3 months for torticolis.  We have seen one Orthropedic but I was not totally satisfied b/c he kind of blew me off about her spine curvature so I asked our PT what she would do if it was her DD and she said skip the doctors in NJ and go to NY and see this one doctor that she worked with when she used to work in a hospital.  Well, he does not take our insurance so I made an appointment with another staff Pediatric Orthropedic surgeon.  Well, let me first say that I think our PT is awesome and really knows what she is doing but her bedside manner is not always great with adults.  So I talked to her today (I made the appointment last week but Addie was sick so we missed last weeks appointments) and she said she did not know the doctor and that if I was going that far she would only recommend him and she asked why I made the appointment with someone else.  So now I am totally second guessing myself.  This hospital is ranked #1 in Orthropedics (not specifically pediatrics but still) so I am kind of assuming that all the doctors on staff there would be awesome or they would not be ranked so great but I have nothing to really go on besides that.  And I am making the trip which will take at least an hour and a half each way (and I could have gone to CHOPs also but this hospital is rated so great for orthropedics and I want them to look at her for scoliosis which this doctor specializes in.)  Ugh, so here I am second guessing myself!

KoriBrett

Stop. ?Take a deep breath. ?Stop thinking with your head - what does your gut feeling tell you to do ? ?Listen to it. ?If you feel your DD would have better care elsewhere, do it. ?

I will say that even if a practice or a hospital is #1 in something, the docs don't necessarily have to be nice or have a bedside manner to speak of. ?It means they're good doctors - personality is sometimes optional ?LOL?

Good luck either way. ?

?

Littlejen22

I definitely think she could get better care than she did in NJ at a highly recommended doctor - he said he could see byr  just looking at her spine that there were some abnormalities (yeah, she curves!) but he was not concerned right now and then went onto other thing that I was more concerned about at the time.  So I left very frustrated b/c he probably touched her for all of 1 minute and now I am left with tons of concerns about her spine.  So I want to go to someone "better", I do not care about bedside manner - our PT is extremely blunt but I think she is great at what she does.  I figure with living fairly close to NY and Philly I can get the best or close to it so I chose the hospital that is supposed to be good for her issues.  I just hate that the PT has be second guessing it like I should just pay our of pocket and she the other doctor...she does not know this one so it is not like she said this doctor is not good.  I just have nothing to go on except that she works at the best hospital so I think that needs to count for something, right?

KoriBrett

Eesh. ?Well, the PT probably just has her circle of familiar docs and other pt/ot - and just isn't comfortable telling you one way or another simply because she doesn't know the other doc. ?Which would come off as her being wishy-washy. ?That stinks. ?We work with pts/ots and docs that are in a tight little circle, and some of the ots don't know ANY other docs in town. ?It's crazy.

You have the best hospital, AND your gut feeling telling you it's the right thing to do. ?It most definitely counts!!!!?

mbg8r

Have you googled this particular doctor? That's what try to do when I need a specialist, regardless of recommendation. Then you would be able to see what others are saying...individuals and publications.

Littlejen22

When I google I find some things that the doctor has written but there are no comments good or bad about the doctor.