plz give your honest opinion...sorry so long!! TIA!!!

ok... so this has been pent up for a few weeks now and just building up. i think venting it out and just getting some honest opinions (which i know you gals are good at ) might help...

i haven't been too happy with my ob practice but for my 16 wk appts, i think the experience just went from unhappy to sour. here's what happened. i was told to see a high risk ob because of thyroid issues which is how i ended up with this practice. when i started making appointments early on, the staff told me that i had to rotate doctors so i started seeing a 2nd ob in the practice instead of the high risk ob. the funny thing is i ended up seeing this same ob 2 more times up until my 12th week at which point i was told that we might be able to tell baby's gender at my 16 wk appt. so i got my hopes up and was really looking fwd to the 16 wk appt. when i went to make an appt for 16 wks with the front desk, they said i'd also be getting the afp test but that i had to see another ob (the 3rd one now) and made a point about how she had to make sure my dates were correct for the afp.

between 12 and 16 weeks, my thyroid went out of control and i got super sick so i had to quadruple my thyroid med. the 2nd ob prescribed me zofran which i took and i was able to stick it out until the 16 wk appt but was starting to get really concerned about all the meds.

at the 16 wk appt, the 3rd ob told me i wasn't getting any u/s, even if i was worried about the baby and being on meds. she said she could prescribe phernagan or something else if i was concerned about zofran (completely missing the point). she then said that i was a day too early to do the afp test and that i had to make an appt for the next day, which was unexpected after the front desk went through a whole shpeal about having to get the dates accurate for the afp. when i asked if i could talk in detail about the interactions between all the meds i was on, she said i'd have to make another appt to come back to see the high risk dr. well, that would be great if i could get an appointment with him in the first place and have him follow my case. omg i was ready to pull my hair out! the office just seemed like a complete mess. i ended up having to make 2 extra appointments that week, one for the afp test and another to finally see the high risk dr.

at the next appt, i had to wait over an hour for a med tech to draw my blood for the afp test. is that normal? i wasn't even there to see a dr.

ok, so finally at the appointment with the high risk dr.... i had to wait over an hour again, which is fine. but when i got into the exam room and told the high risk dr everything that happened, in less than 5 minutes, he did the following:

1. said he'd been prescribing zofran for over 20 yrs and there's nothing to worry about. didn't address interaction with thyroid med and didn't address concerns for baby. that all i needed to worry about were the afp results when they came back.
2. grabbed a doppler and listened to the heartrate, said it was fine then threw the doppler on the counter. yes, he THREW the doppler on the counter.
3. told me that i was worrying way too much, shook my hand, told me that i should be speaking to the anesthesiologist at the hospital if i was concerned about meds, gave me the anesthesiologist's biz card and sent me on my way.

at the point where he threw the doppler on the counter, i was ready to cry. when i left the exam room, his previous patient hadn't even finished checking out yet was how quick i was sent off.

there's more to all this... at some point when i was having my blood tested early on, the test tubes were being placed on the floor because there was no desk space on the tech's desk. then every time i called the office for test results, the nurse never seemed to know what she was talking about. for instance, i had to tell the nurse that NT test results came back as an u/s measurement and ratio result. she even asked me what was NT and i said nuchal translucency! when i was being told my afp results, the nurse gave me the NT results instead and i had to tell her that the afp results would be a bunch of ratios.

seriously, is all this routine ob office practice?? this practice came very highly recommended and i admit that i have high expectations. if i can take the time to educate myself about my baby, i expect that the ob can communicate on the same level. and at the very least, that i don't have to educate the staff! i just felt so lost in this practice, like i was at a baby factory instead. do you gals think i'm just worrying too much/oversensitive?

TIA for reading this long long vent

Message edited 10/4/2011 5:34:56 PM.

Re: plz give your honest opinion...sorry so long!! TIA!!!

It sounds likee this is not the practice for you. I don't like huge groups bc I feel like you can get lost in the shuffle and I like continuity of care. You should look for a solo practitioner or a 2 MD practice. I LOVE mine, if you're in the Huntington area.

Re: plz give your honest opinion...sorry so long!! TIA!!!

I don't think you are overreacting or being overly sensitive at all. All that stuff would really bother me. Maybe one or two of the things you mentioned I could let roll off my back, but all that combined just makes me feel like they are incompetent and I would not be comfortable with myself or my baby being under their care. I would honestly try to find a new practice ASAP. Sorry you've had to deal with all this

Re: plz give your honest opinion...sorry so long!! TIA!!!

I would be so frustrated and upset. Would def leave the practice and find somewhere else. Nothing is more important than the health of you and your LO. You should be given the time, and attention that you deserve.

Re: plz give your honest opinion...sorry so long!! TIA!!!

Oh no you need a new practice asap!!! Have you tried North Shore Maternal Fetal Medicine in Great Neck on Northern Blvd? They deal with only high risk patients. If you want more info let me know

Re: plz give your honest opinion...sorry so long!! TIA!!!

I would see if you could go somewhere else, I don't think you are overreacting at all.

Re: plz give your honest opinion...sorry so long!! TIA!!!

I dont think you should feel like the experience of having a child should be stressful. On that note, there are plenty of OB's out there with much better bedside manners.

Re: plz give your honest opinion...sorry so long!! TIA!!!

Wow. So sorry for all that you've been dealing with. Absolutely do not think you are overreacting in any way, shape or form. No doctor should treat his/her patient like that. This office sounds unprofessional, unorganized and poorly run. Nobody would blame you if you looked to switch doctors.

Re: plz give your honest opinion...sorry so long!! TIA!!!

I left a large office for reasons like yours. It was good when all I needed was a yearly pap smear and renewal for birth control before I got pregnant.

I switched to a smaller practice in Port Jeff Station and I couldn't be happier.

Re: plz give your honest opinion...sorry so long!! TIA!!!

I changed my ob office at 16 weeks along.

BEST decision ever.

If you are uncomfortable or don't like it there... THEN SWITCH!! Don't pull your hair out over the situation, don't go nuts about it, don't waste anymore time. JUST SWITCH ASAP... like NOW!!

You will be so thankful you did.

And if you don't switch, you will be kicking yourself for the rest of the pregnancy and for the delivery as well.

Good Luck!!

ETA: the office should not only know how to read the results but also what those tests are for!!! that's really important. what if you didn't know yourself and they were just giving out wrong information? I could not stay with an office filled with clueless workers!!
My office was great whenever i called for any sort of questions... be it test results or an issue or pain i was having. the nurses there are seriously the best to deal with. i loved loved loved it there. and that's how you should feel as well.

Message edited 10/5/2011 12:00:00 AM.

Re: plz give your honest opinion...sorry so long!! TIA!!!

Re: plz give your honest opinion...sorry so long!! TIA!!!

thanks ladies for your opinion and advice. i'm leaning towards switching but i'm so afraid of switching to another dr and getting the same experience bc this practice was supposed to be so highly recommended! mmm... i guess it's worth giving a try will post update later!