My doctor may in fact be trying to kill me...

I honestly don't think my doctor is intentionally trying to kill me, but given the circumstances it's almost hard to consider an alternative. I will detail the problem as best I can:

The problem is with my bowels. For about a year and a half I've had diarrea (most likely not spelled correctly...) and thin stool with lots of blood. This began in September of 2007. I had a colonoscopy as well as a rectal exam that showed trace amounts of blood and the doctor said it was an anal fissure....which really doesnt explain it and I could tell once he came to this conclusion he stopped checking the colon....he was very wishy washy about it. The anal fissure healed over time though I have abdomen pain as well. Since having other symptoms over the past 3 weeks, including all types of stomach spasms, fevers, chills, and pains, the bleeding has increased and even made me wobbly at times on my knees. I literally am sweating in 20 degree weather. Because of the above mentioned reasons I am not well enough to attend school this year.
He asked if colon cancer ran in the family and I said "I don't know" (back before I knew it did. In fact a good portion of the males in my family are diagnosed around age 40, starting with my Great Grandfather and literally every male in his family and so on).
At which point he said "It is probably all in your head because of your anxiety disorder" (He may in fact be mentally challenged because I told him repeatedly that my anxiety disorder was from back in high school when I saw him 6 years ago and since then am one of the least anxious people I know) ....The fact of the matter is if I stuck my finger up my butt right now there would be blood (excuse my language). Physical doctors don't know how to deal with mental illness (or the lack of one they still think exists). I can only assume he is either using the old approach of mental illness used in the 50's or he got his medical degree at a back door med school in the Caribbean....which is honestly not that hard to do....

But...you know....I guess its all in my head.....

Unfortunately he sent his diagnosis to all the local hospitals so even if I go to a hospital they will not treat me because they keep referring to the colonoscopy that was "done" and the CAT scan....when the CAT scan actually is BS to begin with because it never noticed I had a tumor growing over my kidney.

I am only 22, it's bull **** that I have to deal with this and miss school because of it and every time I need to schedule an appointment with someone I'm put on at least a month waiting list. My family is Yale grads, we aren't in Africa. I guess this is America's health care system.

Another possibility is that since I look way more German than Asian that he may in fact hate the Germans since he's Jewish. Lol, I dunno, I'm trying to find a way to excuse his ignorance.

*End rant*

Does anyone have any advice on what next steps I should take? Does anyone else feel this is a problem? Or is it all in my head based off of some "anxiety mental illness" that does not exist? Perhaps I should send him photos of the large quantities of blood that comes out my rectum on a daily basis?

Thanks for listening....time to go to the bathroom

See another doctor ASAP!

Even if it's in another town, get a second opinion for sure

All the best with it

Hmm well yes. Sounds like from all the anal bleeding you are enduring you should seek another doctor, and for keyboard sake lets keep our hands to ourselves.



PrntScrn

If there is blood in your feces, then it isn't in your head.

This could be a sign of HUGE problems with your GI tract. You must get checked out, and soon.

I have a very hard time believing no one at the hospital will treat you. If it was me, I'd just go to the emergency room and demand to have tests run. Even if its a problem with referrals, they can't turn you away from the ER.

Other than that, I suggest you find another doctor and quickly. Chances are if the blood is still red, then its in your large intestines, as it hasn't been digested yet.

What do you parents say of all this?

Good luck and God bless, now go to another doctor.

reply to post by Chadwickus


That does seem like the best alternative. I will map out a route in the city. Should be a nice hour drive while in agony. The part that aggravates me the most is that he is literally making me suffer and it seems there is no accounting for his actions. It's one thing for me to have to go through this. I'm 22. I'm a big guy. I can take care of myself but I hate to think of some old lady with alzheimer's or something being told "Despite a tumor growing in your colon.....you know.....your alzheimer's seems to be altering the equipment so it just appears that way....".

How does one usually file a complaint in a situation like this?

He could just be a hopeless DR.
There is many around.
Go see another one asap.
And even consider a 3rd and 4th opinion.
I know its alot of bother but this is sometimes what you have to go through.
CT scan is not good enough for these serious symptoms.
You need MRI.Maybe its your insurance?
Perhaps he just try's to keep the cost down for them?
That's not uncommon.
They kill people to save money.

I wholeheartedly agree about the second opinion. If he has sent his diagnosis to the local clinics and hospitals then you should definately go out of town to get it checked out.

Don't mention to them that you've seen another Dr and he thinks you're crazy. That Doc will maybe think like that too. You know, the power of suggestion and all.

Look on the internet and call around and get an appointment. Drive at least an hour away to a facility that is not in the same "network" that you are now using.

If you think you are not being helped get help elsewhere, especially if it is an inconvience to you to drive a long way.

Would you rather die to prove this Doctor wrong or live and be healthy?

Yeah I agree with Chad.
You need to see someone about that who will take you seriously. You also need to see a specialist, not just some general practitioner. You sure you cannot go to the hospital about it? I have never heard of a GP sending out a note to hospitals not to treat someone, sounds more like your Dr is BS'ing you about that.

reply to post by SantaClaus


Is that true that they cant turn you away? Because I did the same thing, demanding tests, short of throwing a chair at them and they just read the chart and said "The ER is for actual emergencies". Although they did do an occult (spelling?) rectal exam and did confirm bleeding. Is there any type of a constitution I can read off that assures my rights to get tests there?

If I was schizophrenic I could actually see this as some type of plot to kill me. Especially with this new information that they basically have to give tests upon demand. Another thing that bothers me about that is that they said "The ER is for actual emergencies!" but the last time I went a week or two ago they said that when it was 4 am and there was literally no one there except for one guy who I think was getting a tube shoved down his throat....or maybe being hacked open or something......I mean it looked bad but still you'd think they'd have more than one doctor on duty to deal with the other patients and this is a rather large facility.

reply to post by Fat Azn


Although I will reiterate you should find another Doctor immediately, from the description of your symptoms I would say with some certainty you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Irritable bowel syndrome - Wikipedia

Yes find another doctor and tell him little or NOTHING about the opinions of the first doctor. Lie if you have to.

They have that "brotherhood" thing and will often defend eachother (especially if you criticize the first doc).

reply to post by defcon5


It wasn't a note. It was the medical records chart and people keep reading it and inferring the same thing from the previous tests this doctor had done. Basically that this doctor is infallible and had done these tests so therefore any other tests over nearly a years progression from the colonoscopy therefore cannot be valid. Sorry if I did not describe that well in my above rant.

I just find the whole situation very irksome. I'm going to leave for a bit now to work out some appointments, possible hospitals in the city and such. Thanks for the help thus far!

Originally posted by Fat Azn
It was the medical records chart and people keep reading it and inferring the same thing from the previous tests this doctor had done. Basically that this doctor is infallible and had done these tests so therefore any other tests over nearly a years progression from the colonoscopy therefore cannot be valid. Sorry if I did not describe that well in my above rant.

They think he is infallible? Is he an expert in his field with a solid gold reputation? Because if that is the case, he might very well be correct.

On the otherhand even if it is anxiety, I don't know why he would not try different drugs to help with the problem. There are drugs out there.

So glad others mentioned second opinion. I had a doctor that insisted that I smoke. When I told her I didn't she gave me that frowning narrowed eye look like I was lying. She perscribed me a medication Allegra, total crap for a sinus infection) that made me worse so I was back in a week. Fortunately for me it was a Saturday she had off so I was helped by a doctor in Internal Medicine. He took one look at my sinuses with a light and said, "You're allergic to dust" which made total sense since I'd tried cleaning house a few days before getting sick. Point being, what one doctor sees is not what another doctor sees. Here are some other recommendations:

1.) Check out WebMD.com . It's good to hear from professionals as well as patients how severe the condition may be or different possibilities. I would NOT recommend going to a doctor and replying when he asks what's wrong by saying, "I have Colorectal Adenocarcinoma!" Rather, keep it simple and accurate as you did in your post. Let her/him come up with the assessment and you can work on confirming it after. Also, for someone to even try to correctly diagnose you, they'd have to see you and the test results.

2.) Ask questions, ask for details. How does it happen? What does it mean? I don't quite follow, can you put it in layman's terms? Are there any treatments? Is there anything I can do in the meanwhile? Etc.

3.) Pick up House, it sheds some perspective on the difficulties with being in the medical profession.

4.) Drop the idea of it being a race issue. People don't spend 8+ years in medical school and grueling internships to save peoples lives only to disregard someone because of a fifty year old war vendetta.

All the best on your search for a solution, continue the tests. Sometimes finding out what it isn't is another way of finding out what it is. Also, just because you don't feel nervous doesn't mean your body isn't going through a kind of internal anxiety disorder. Your mind might may be fit, but the nerves lining your stomach could be spasming, causing ulcers, etc. Diaherria is caused by too much water in the intestines as I understand it, but doesn't usually mean you're drinking too much water...actually it means you should drink more because you're losing it at a rapid rate and can be easily dehydrated (causes fever and such). My choice would be milk to reduce any possibility of stomach acidity as a possible. Again, all just speculation, doctors are the ones with degrees.

I don't think your doctor is trying to kill you just like I don't think the person who designed the bridge I ride across on the way home is hoping it will collapse while I'm on it.

[edit on 26-1-2009 by saint4God]

Originally posted by vonspurter
Although I will reiterate you should find another Doctor immediately, from the description of your symptoms I would say with some certainty you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Irritable bowel syndrome - Wikipedia

I was thinking IBS too, but it would probably take an assessment by visual, tests, and symptom diagnosis to say that's what it is. I wouldn't start taking pills for it without knowing with a great degree of confidence. Sometimes the side-effects are worse than the condition.

reply to post by Sonya610


Apparently everyone talks like he is the best of the best. The problem is is that if you meet him you'll notice a type of over confidence that is also reflective in his bedside manner. I feel like it is this type that can in fact be head strong enough to miss something that is crucial especially since he went into the colonoscopy with a predetermined mind set that it was an anal fissure. Then seemed a bit disconcerted when I pushed him on the fact if he had checked the entire colon. He said he was "pretty sure" there was nothing there. Now perhaps in this case I am being a bit oversensitive. But the fact is that all of these things combined with the continued symptoms, I feel when it comes to "pretty sure" versus "sure", goes a long way.
At any rate I just scheduled an appointment with a new doctor. If I feel worse which will probably happen I'm going to go to the Penn hospital which was recommended to me. Until then I only have to wait a week.
Someone also mentioned the drugs. He did prescribe a steroid for the anus, called AnalPram I believe.....which really didn't make a diference. As well as Bentyl because he suggested it could be IBS. I haven't noticed a difference with either drugs. Another thing that is a bit strange is that I was discussing this with my immediate family and they said that at the very same age I began to get these symptoms they did too and had all the work done I did. Also they had the same abdomen pain in the same place. By them I mean all the males. Dad and his brother. They too got a complete work up and were negative on everything. They still have the symptoms to this day without any signs of a tumor, so far. But they are only 40.

Originally posted by Sonya610
Yes find another doctor and tell him little or NOTHING about the opinions of the first doctor. Lie if you have to.

They have that "brotherhood" thing and will often defend eachother (especially if you criticize the first doc).

Not necessarily. The doctor who correctly diagnosed me was in the same office. When I mentioned Dr. K perscribed Allegra his face got wrinkled and asked, "Why would she do that?" Perhaps there is a Secret Fraternal Order of Medical Doctors, but he apparently wasn't a member . I say don't lie, it'll only make you look stupid when your wrong or dead from mistreatment based on what you've said.

[edit on 26-1-2009 by saint4God]

Sounds very much like my story. For years I had severe intestinal pain. It only happened maybe once or twice a year at first but when it did it was extremely painful. It would hurt so bad that I would eventually pass-out. I thought it was just gas for years and since it occured so rarely I really didn't think that much about it.

Over the years it became more frequent and began to concern me more. I started to do research and thought maybe I had IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) so I tried some over the counter medicine for that. No luck. Eventually I diagnosed myself as having diverticulitis. I went to my family doctor and told him I thought it was possible that I had diverticulitis. He agreed that it was possible and told me to eat a blander diet. The only test he performed was to press on my abdomen.

Since he was a doctor and I had checked with him I tried to forget about it until the next bout with it. It was becoming more and more frequent. Finally it began to happen about once a month and I knew something was wrong. I took myself to the ER and they pumped me full of dilaudid and dimerol (sp?) and I felt much better. They hospitalized me and ran test.

I had been correct, I had very severe diverticulitis, I ended up having 18" of my colon removed. When they did the surgery they saw that I had several holes in my colon. The pain was being caused by food falling out of my bowel and into my gut and then rotting inside of me.

I could have very easily died, that doctor of mine was worthless and I found out later that the insurance I had did not want him ordering tests that they had to pay for and he went along with them. The two of them almost killed me.

reply to post by saint4God


Thanks. I was joking about the race thing. I know racism is stupid and that a doctor would really never begrudge someone for that especially not to the point of warranting death. I am mixed race or rather ethnicity myself. So I'm not a racist person by any means.

Please see another doctor. My brother had bloody diarrhea and was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis around age 20 which lead into his getting cancer of the colon in his forty's from which he succumbed at age 47. Get a good G.I. specialist as soon as possible. Wishing you good health.

digestive.niddk.nih.gov...