Thursday, March 4, 2010

It should be easier.

So if you've been reading my blog you know that I have an appointment to see Dr. Goldstein, but from all the negative things I've been hearing, I've been trying to get an appointment with Dr. Kellogg-Spadt instead.   Well, easier said than done.

I called 3 weeks ago to try to make an appointment and ask some questions like how does the 1st appt. typically go, how much does it cost, etc.  The woman that I spoke to wouldn't even hear my questions.  She said they won't do anything until they see my insurance card.  So my husband faxed my insurance card to them the next day.

Waiting.  Waiting.

Waiting.

Finally my husband called them the next week after we hadn't heard back from them.  Here's how the conversation went:
"Hi, I faxed my wife's insurance information last week and ..."
"Yeah we got it, we'll call you tomorrow, can't help you today."
"Okay...."

Notice how he never even said my name or his name, but she chose to cut him off and said that she did get my info and would call the next day.

Next day - nothing.

My husband called them back the day after that and it turns out they never got the fax.  Interesting.  So he faxed it again.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Finally I called them the next week and the woman I spoke to said, "Yes we got your info but we haven't looked into it yet.  I'll call you back."  I think she could hear the annoyance in my voice so I think she got right on it and called me back a few hours later.  It turns out that they do not accept my insurance (not their fault, my insurance sucks) and it would cost anywhere between $1,000-$3,000 for the first appointment.  I said I wanted to make an appointment anyway.  Of course I would love for my insurance to cover it; I'm far from rich, but ultimately I'm going to pay the money no matter what.  If that was the only problem, there'd be no problem.  This is a priority.

So as she was getting my information, she found out that I live in VA.  She said that it would be better to set up a phone consultation.  I said no, but what I really wanted to say was, "only if the doctor can examine my vagina through the phone.  Otherwise a phone consultation is pretty useless".  She asked me how I expected to have a doctor that is so many hours away.  I told her that I thought I could go to Dr. Kellogg to get a diagnosis and then do maintenance and follow-up treatments with my own doctor (and a few follow-ups with Dr. Kellogg as well).

No.

She said that I would be expected to go to Dr. Kellogg at least once a week for who knows how long and maybe I should look for a doctor in VA that is covered by my insurance.  Really?  I never thought of that!  Well let me just pull out the phone book and look under Vulvovaginal Disorders!  Oh look, there's hundreds of doctors in my area who can tell me what's wrong with my crotch!

Fine.  You win.  I give up.

Dr. Kellogg may be a great doctor, but I guess I'll never know.

So I'm back to going to Dr. Goldstein.  Some people have had good experiences with him, so I'm hoping that I can add myself to that group.  My husband will be with me so that gives me encouragement that he won't let Dr. Goldstein bully me around.

Why does it have to be so hard?

7 comments:

brieahnj said...

I don't want to shock you but my first appointment with Dr. Goldstein was over $1500 and he does not take insurance either

Sarah said...

Yeah I know, but at least they let me make an appointment. I'll pay the money if I have to.

Anonymous said...

Hi -- thanks for writing about yr exp w/Dr. Goldstein. I've been a patient of Dr. Kellogg (Susan) for maybe 10 years, & my advice is to push through the crazy overworked receptionists & SEE HER! She's amazing. I think she may give you some more workable treatments than Goldstein did. Also, re: insurance, as long as you have some insurance, it will likely cover the lab expenses, so you shouldn't be out of pocket $1000. best of luck

Sarah said...

Thanks for the advice and info. I think I'm going to stick with Dr. Goldstein for now. He has a plan of attack and I have high hopes that it will work. But I'm glad to hear that I still have options if it doesn't.

Anonymous said...

From what I've been reading about Dr Goldstein he must pick and choose his patients.Either he's great or a jerk. From my own experience with him I find him to be abusive and disrespectful. I'm sure if my husband was in the room with me my "exam" would not have been as rough or humiliating. My husband wanted me to turn him into the Maryland Medical Board for patient abuse, which I considered. But knew if I did I wouldn't find a doctor to take care of me. Since it's such a small network of doctors who treat Vulvodynia, and they all know each other. I have flashbacks and anxiety attacks of what this doctor did to me and the way he was talking to me as he did it. Even his office nurse had a shocked look on her face as he prodded me like an animal without explanation. I can only hope some day some brave woman will come forth and notify the medical board of the way she was treated by this man. And hopefully the board will believe her.

Sarah said...

That sounds awful. I'm so sorry for your experience. I hope you have found a doctor that treats you with respect.

Anonymous said...

To the girl with the pain "down there". I have found a doctor & I am treated with the respect I deserve. My husband comes with me every visit. I certainly learned my lesson. Dr Andrew Goldstein is a poster boy of how NOT to treat a woman is stirrups. It's unbelievable in this day and age a woman would be treated the way I was. I only wish someone warned me before I saw him. Always do your homework, ladies, before getting into a set of stirrups. This man should be put in a cage!!!!