I write a lot about my experiences with doctors on this blog. Most of the time I talk about them and say who they are, and say their names. So I’ve decided to literally make a list of the doctors I’ve seen and what I think about them. Most of the time you’re shooting in the dark when it comes to doctors, and when you’re this sick, you can’t really afford to play games like I did. So, heres my “No BS Doctor List”. Mind you I have seen 10,000 doctors, so they aren’t all listed. These are just the important ones. Feel Free to list your doctor reviews in the comments, I figure we could help each other.
*Indicates my current doctor
Dr. Mark Silverman – Neurologist – Milford, MI
- This doctor gave me my MS diagnosis. Thats all he gave me, no information, no bedside manner, no comfort. Nothing. He left me sitting on the table crying, and that day told me to pick my own medication.
Dr. Omar Kahn – Neurologist – Detroit, MI
- This guy is the head of the MS Center at the Detroit DMC. Very smart man who is involved in the MS community. He’s all business, and no personality. I waited for a long time….to talk to his fellow. I actually spent about 10 minutes with him and in that 10 minutes he didn’t give me anything that made me want him to be my doctor. He was cold and made me uncomfortable.
Dr. David Irani – Neurologist – Ann Arbor, MI
- This guy is a rockstar. He’s a head of the University of Michigan MS Center. The first day I met him, he was waiting in the exam room for me. He also had read over ALL of my test results before I got there, and then went over almost everything with me. He asked for my history from the very beginning in detail and then asked me to retake tests so he could make his own diagnosis based on HIS tests and not the notes of another doctor. His nurse is a pain in the ass, but the doctor is personable and super intelligent. See Update
Dr. Willemijntje Hoogerwerf – GI – Ann Arbor, MI
- This is the first GI doctor I ever saw. This was years ago, I was super nervous, and uncomfortable. She walked in, and was very nice, but she also had 2 students with her and didn’t ask if I was ok with that or not. After she did an exam, she told me I was perfectly fine. She told me I didn’t even have IBS. She was very wrong. You can be nice all you want, in fact I liked that about her, but she was clearly a moron.
Dr. Steve Klein – GI – Famington Hills, MI
- I could write a whole essay about how much I hate this man. He was the doctor I saw when I finally sucked it up and decided I needed to meet with a GI. He was nice and personable. He told me I had IBS, and wouldn’t start me on any meds. He made me try 2 different kinds of fiber for months. When this didn’t work, he did a flex sig procedure on me while I was awake, and in the middle of what was a very large flare. It was horrible. He then said I had colitis…gave me Asacol. The Asacol gave me a pericarditis which required surgery around my heart. He didn’t believe Asacol could do that and basically told me to keep taking it.
Dr. Kenneth Kurjan – GI – Farmington Hills, MI
- This is Dr. Klein’s associate. He happened to be on call when I was in the hospital after I was admitted for heart problems. He is the doctor that blamed Asacol. He was a savior. This GI had great bedside manner, great personality, and he was smart. I really liked him. I really liked him until the medications all stopped working. He literally told me “No surgeon will ever do surgery on you”, because he said I could be controlled with medication. After almost a year of no response and high dose daily steroids, I made the decision to take my health into my own hands and find a specialist. I havent talk to Dr. Kurjan since.
Dr. James Dowd – Rhuematology – Brighton, MI
- This man saved my life. Literally. It was a fluke that I met him when I did. I had just been discharged from the hospital the day before, and I was worse than when I went in. I met him at his office, and he took some short tests on me, and told me that if I didn’t get to an ER, I would go into heart failure and die. Something…apparently no other doctor could tell me. After that when I had conflicting problems with Dr. Kurjan, he prescribed me medication he thought would help my UC. He is smarter than any other doctor I have ever met, literally.
Dr. Mark Karabajakian – Cardiologist – Milford, MI
- A brilliant cardiologist. He is my dad’s cardiologist, and when I was being rushed to the ER after seeing Dr. Dowd, my dad got on the phone and call him. He left his house at 10pm and rushed to meet me at the ER to take over my case. He diagnosed my pericarditis/pericardiac effusion, and decided I needed surgery. He really cares about his patients enough to go the extra mile. His office staff is the whip too.
Dr. Robert Truding – Pediatric GI – Royal Oak, MI
- This is the doctor that volunteers a full week of his time for Camp Oasis. He has a million patients and through some string pulling I got in to see him. He made me start at the VERY beginning which was a serious test of my memory. He’s thoughrough, and hes all business but kids tend to love him. He won’t be my doctor for long, but he can do no wrong in my mind.
Dr. Ganesh Deshmukh – Colorectal Surgery – Wayne, MI
- Total fucker. Honestly if you read my last entry, this is the doctor I talked about that made fun of me, didn’t introduce himself, ect. Had I not known who he was before, I still wouldn’t considering he never told me his name. Rude, no bedside manner, and clearly in one hell of a hurry. I dont know if hes smart or good at what he does because he literally did not talk to me or give me any suggestions on how to fix my problem.
Dr. Ahmed Kandiel – GI – Cleveland, OH
- Once I gave up on Dr. Kurjan, I called Cleveland to get an app with one of the GI specialists. I got this guy. He wasn’t really anything special. I think he knows a lot but I wasn’t anything new/unusual to him so I think it was far too routine for him. But i really needed some good strong info when I went to see him but all I got him to do was up my 6MP. He suggested at that time I meet with a surgeon, I guess that is one good thing I got.
Dr. Feza Remzi – Colorectal Surgery – Cleveland, OH
- I found Remzi. I made the call. I did the research. I chose him on my own. I literally called them up, and asked for an appointment. It took a while to get in, but he was amazing when I finally got there, and so was Vicki, his nurse. He has a GREAT bedside manner. Hes a genius and its hard not to just love him and his accent. I know hes constantly finding new ways to do this surgery, and doing talks about it so hes famous worldwide for these surgeries. He’s the guy you want, when you have to get surgery. When I was upset after my surgery, he called me on his own time personally, gave me his cell number, and EVERY time I talk to him he tells me something along the lines of “we’ll get through this together.” He’s encouraging. He’s Funny. He’s not a bullshitter. But he’s busy as hell. He is “the guy” when it comes to this stuff, so every person wants to see him. So pick him as your surgeon, just don’t expect to have long chit chats with him. BUT he will spend as much time with you as needed. I have had my doubts. I’ve said some mean things. But at the end, I’m glad hes the man that juggles my insides. (Things change, read the update, and also what happened when Dr. Remzi became chairman later in my blog)
UPDATES as of 9/13/11
Dr. Howard Rossman – Neurologist – Farmington Hills, MI*
- Dr Irani totally shit the bed. I had that MS attack in may, and he was literally too busy to see me because he was doing Clinicals. WTF. So instead of giving me the steroids I NEEDED to clear up my vision (of all things), he left me hanging. Total devastation. I saw Dr. Bernistas in his place, who was super nice, but very difficult to understand. I liked her, a lot. Then I got a notice she was changing to Dr. Omar Kahn’s clinic. So that was the end of her. I have given up on specialist and at this point just googled a neuro who was close to home. I came across Dr. Rossman. I didn’t have to wait too long to get an appointment, and when I went in to see him..I was blown away. Honestly, I REALLY like him. He’s the only doctor I’ve had for MS who has actually sat down and really explained things to me, and offered to go over my MRI scans WITH me, instead of just telling me what was on them. We haven’t gotten into treatment yet. But so far..he’s great.
Dr. Harry Wasvary – Colorectal Surgeon – Royal Oak, MI*
- I am really good at getting screwed over by doctors. Dr. Remzi really let me down at the end. You can read all about it on the blog, but lets just say I was devastated by him and lost ALL confidence in him. I started looking locally for a surgeon to finish my takedown. I had a friend who used Dr. Wasvary for her jpouch, and recommended him highly. Turns out, my sister actually teacher his daughter. Small world. Anyway, Dr. Wasvary was great from the day I met him. I REALLY like him too. We don’t know each other that well, but hes given me great care, saved me time and money, and genuinely cares how I am doing. He also doesn’t have a nurse, so that means he calls you back himself…within the day. I know, right! Would highly, highly recommend him for butt surgeries. His office staff is great too, including his scheduling lady. I can’t remember her name, but she was SO nice to me, I almost melted in their office.
I must say, this inspires me to talk about my good/bad doctors. Though no one reads my blog. ha
I’ve had my share of shit experiences. And my MS diagnostic douchebag doctor sounds pretty much like yours. But I’ve had some good ones, too.
Anyway, I dig this post. That is all. =)
Thank you for taking the time to do this. I know that it was very difficult for me to pick a doctor that I felt I could trust with my life. I live in Wisconsin, 20 miles south of Madison. My GI doctor is Dr. Abigail Christiansen at St. Mary’s. She is crazy; I almost didn’t go back to her because I was so offended by her language and manner. I am glad I did; she is awesome. She has helped me with my J-pouch more than anyone. She is not afraid to prescribe medicine, which I have found to be a major problem with doctors through my years of sickness. My surgeon is at University of WI hospital. Dr. Bruce Harms. He is beyond awesome. His nurse, Deb, is great. He saved my life.
I love your website. My Mom went through many terrible doctors that I always felt took advantage of the situation and the limited knowledge and blind faith that my mother had. Some of your comments resonate with me and the experiences she went through while she was alive. Thank you for this, it’s truly one of the best things about the internet, the ability to actually read information that is not only informative, but hits home. Hope all of your ailments are manageable and God bless you.
I am taking my 6 year old to Dr. Truding on Wednesday and was trying to find out anything & everything I could on him. THANK YOU for taking the time to do this – – more people should. I honestly appreciate how candidate you are, too. Some Drs. just don’t understand that people FREAK when they have to go through these things and it does not help when you are not personable and just go through the motions. I look forward to seeing Dr. Truding now, from what you said and some other things I found out about the camp he volunteers at.
Hey Amy’s mom!
Mad props to you for being a mom of a sick kid. I have often said many times, that I don’t know how parents do it. My parents have a hard enough time and I am a grown ass woman. Dr. Truding, is a great doctor. Don’t get me wrong, I know people who have had some beef with him and butted heads, however, they always seem to come out in the end still his patient.
Amy’s mom, you should IMMEDIATELY contact Dawn Aubrey at the CCFA of Michigan, and ask about how to get Amy on the waiting list for Camp Oasis. I am telling you, it will change her life…so much. I cannot say enough good things about it. You can ask Dr. Truding about camp as well, but as a counselor who works with the kids 24/7 during the week, it changes their lives, honestly. I know its hard to let your small child out of your hands for a week, but I’m telling you….look into it. In fact, if you’d like, I’d be willing to talk your ear off about camp. I will do anything I can to get as many kids to camp as possible!
Candid – how CANDID you are
Dr. Bruce harms at uw Madison is my surgeon also. deb is my nurse and I absolutely adore them both.
they saved my life and are always available for questions. Great bedside manner.