I would love to hear anyone and everyone's opinion on this .... I gonna try to make this short as possible.... my surgeon performed both surgeries on me my colectomy and my takedown from December till February I'm grateful for God and her expertise and doing my surgeries she's really great at what she does 22 years as a surgeon but on my last two follow up visits 2 weeks ago and yesterday I left her office totally totally clueless and empty no head ways on how to approach my situation after a month later after my reversal I just want a few kind words and something encouraging but I got nothing I tell her I'm emotionally and I'm having 10+ BMs and all she says is take 2 Imodium and if that doesn't work try 3 ! And then my mother asked her if my son was your son and he was your patient how would you treat him ? And my surgeon snapped at my mother throws up her hands and she says to my mother I don't have time !!! for this I have to go on with my life and other patients and left the room ..... What's your take on this and what would you do in this situation?
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most surgeons suck at bedside manner. and this was a clear example of that. I'm sorry you experienced it. I'm not sure of what your history was prior to surgery, your experience with your IBD specialist etc. You asked an often asked question earlier in the week and I hope you found some good guidance. its a tough call to switch doctors, just as tough to switch surgeons after they cut and sutured you. have you seen and spoken to your Gastroenterologist since surgery? often GI's are better at helping with the everyday. use this site as a resource there are many experienced people here, let alone cumulatively thousands of hours of patient history and experience, arguably cumulatively more than any doc has seen on their own. tap into that resource, that body of knowledge and experience. use it to help yourself along this journey.
as many said in your other post, it is very early days, I am not sure what preparation or expectations you had going into the surgery, I always try to dissuade people from expecting too much normalcy, because after one has excised a major organ from the body, albeit one that we can live without, one's life has changed inextricably.
good luck, be patient, it gets better.
Sonny,
I agree, most surgeons do suck at bedside manner...that is why they become surgeons (not true but...sounds good) so that they do not have to deal with 'awake' patients...well, sort of...They do not teach them psycology they teach them to cut out the sickness and sew things back together.
What you need is a G.I. who deals with "awake" people....who is used to dealing with disease on a daily basis and the results of surgery.
French surgeons are notorious at having very low points on bedside manner and high surgical skills...makes for great surgeries and terrible post op care.
Keep the relationship cordial...you never know when you are going to need her...And find someone else for the upkeep.
Sharon
My surgery was emergency. Super nice guy with a great memory of my family members, but honestly... I think he "butchered" me compared to somebody skilled in a colectomy.
Then I switch surgeons to a specialist to create my J-Pouch... I am very satisfied with his bedside manner.
Now on to my orthopaedic surgeon - Emergency Trauma surgeon only (I was in a car accident and had no choice). He was a number one A**hole. He "reprimanded" me in front of friends and nursing staff, because my knee was not bending, so then he intentionally forced it to bend and I thought I was going to hit the roof. He kept repeating "If this is a fail, then I'm a failure and I don't fail". Narcissist! I don't doubt his expertise, but I was not going to put up with his bedside manner and I told him so.... then he changed his attitude and began to respect me once he realized that I heal at my own pace.
10 months later, I needed an Achilles heel lengthening surgery. I asked my Primary MD for a recommendation. This surgeon and his staff all had the best bedside manner and zero complications with his surgery.
So... my experience is switching surgeons has been successful!
I agree with others who suggest a GI who is experienced in j-pouches for ongoing care. I don't feel necessarily that surgeons "don't care" but they tend to have very busy practices that are literally like a turnstile; in most cases they see the patient pre-op, do the surgery, and then see them maybe one or two times in follow up before ultimately discharging them from their care. It's actually not common practice that a surgical patient would need ongoing follow up care indefinitely from their surgeon (whose job it is really just to perform the surgery), so while I agree your surgeon had questionable bedside manner, she was unfortunately probably quite correct in saying that she was too busy to see you. Now that being said, j-pouchers aren't typical surgical patients, and we often do need prolonged follow up and ongoing aftercare, as well as regular check ups. For that reason, some colorectal surgeons will continue to follow up their pouch patients, but not all of them can or do. My own surgeon is wonderful and has remained involved in my care, but I have also experienced occasions where he has been just too busy to squeeze me in when I was having problems. I was therefore referred to a GI to deal with ongoing "maintenance" and other issues as they arise, and that seemed a better arrangement at the time. On a side note, my GI has since left to practice in Belgium and I am incidentally back with my surgeon for full time care. He has been very accommodating since then, as I think he understands how unique pouch patients are.
But certainly, if you do not have a GI, you should ask your surgeon to refer you to someone qualified who can remain involved in your ongoing care.