This year I've been seen by three separate practitioners at Visionary Women's Health for a number…read moreof different gynecological assessments and procedures and I've taken my mother, who is nearly 90, for a needed appointment there as well, and all of the practitioners were knowledgeable, informative, caring, and patient during the appointments and Tola Fashokun was especially gentle and insightful with my mom; however, the follow up after one of the appointments has been egregiously unacceptable.
I first came to this practice on the recommendation of my primary care physician, who advised that I see a new gynecologist. Previous testing earlier this year showed that I needed to be assessed for possible endometrial cancer and possible unrelated cervical cancer. To address this Janis Logan, a nurse practitioner at Visionary Women's Health, gave me a biopsy of my endometrial lining and a colposcopy which turned out to include several biopsies as well. I've been dealing with these cancer scares for a couple of years now, and Janis Logan explained to me what's been going on with my body and my previous test results more thoroughly and clearly than anyone has to date. The procedures were painful, but she was caring and walked me through everything she was doing, and she even asked me if I wanted the nurse in the room to hold my hand when things got especially tough, which is something I had never been offered before during painful procedures such as these, and it helped to ease the situation a great deal for me. It is clear that this practice puts thought and effort into making women's health not only effective, but also comfortable and accessible (they accept my medical-assistance insurance).
After the appointment, Janice Logan let me know that she would be having a follow up TeleMed appointment with me after the results were in to let me know the findings and if I would need a followup procedure such as a hysteroscopy or ultrasound.
Because I was waiting to find out whether I had two different types of cancer, I called in about a week to see if the results were in and was told that not all of the results had come back yet and that someone would call me when they did, and I tried again at week two and was told the same thing and was given the additional information that it can sometimes take as long as three weeks for the results to come back. Almost four weeks later I still hadn't heard anything and I was back at the practice for another appointment for an unrelated problem and an appointment for my mother, and I requested that someone speak to me about my test results while I was there. I was told that the practitioner would speak to me about it after my appointment, and then I was given the update that she would speak with me after I attended my mother's appointment with her, and then I was given a third update that the practitioner would call me after I got home.
I did not receive a phone call after I got home nor did I receive a phone call the next day. I called again the day after that to ask once again if I could speak with the practitioner to find out the results, and the person taking the call spoke with the practitioner herself and then came back to tell me that a nurse from their practice had already sent me a two-sentence message four days after my procedure was done saying that the results of my biopsy were normal and that I was to call if I had any questions. I explained that I had called several times since then and was told that not all the test results were back, as well, I did not know which of my biopsies that written message was referring to, and so I asked the person on the phone does this mean that the test results were negative for endometrial cancer and negative for cervical cancer, and she replied that she was unable to answer that question, and I once again said that I would like to speak to someone who could answer that question. She told me that the practitioner would call me before 12 noon that day to let me know about the cancer results, which did not occur. She also volunteered that I should request to speak with the head of the practice, Dr. Amy Gueye-Weinstein, to address the problems I was having in getting my results.
When I had not heard from the practitioner by noon, I called to request that Dr. Gueye-Weinstein call me, and the person I spoke with said that she would have her colleague, Dr. Gueye-Weinstein, call me and also added that she would have the practitioner I hadn't heard from to call me as well. Neither of them has called me.
More than four weeks later, I still don't know whether I have either one of these cancers. I also still don't know whether all of my test results are in, whether I need any additional procedures, or why no practitioner is returning my calls.
Update: They had the results, which indicate that I don't have cancer, just 4 days after my procedure, which was before my first phone call. I still haven't received a return phone call.
