I have been working with Dr. Hustak and her staff for about a month now. She has always been so…read morebubbly and friendly, great bedside manner, informative, and I thought we had a great working relationship. I had planned on doing 4 procedures, which totaled $37,300 in 2 weeks.
Initially, I was assured, even prior to booking the first consult that there would be no problem in filling out short term leave for work and that I could have more consults if I had any questions. The first consult went well, but after I did have initial questions, so I scheduled a second - about a couple weeks later, which also went well. I felt like she understood what I was looking for and we were completely aligned. I was excited and looking forward to getting the paperwork done.
Fast forward to today, I went into complete pre-op paperwork and was specifically asked to come in the AM and come earlier then original time, I agreed. I was there exactly at my appointment time and brought my family with me. As I sat there, time went by and I asked the ladies in the front how much longer as I needed to get back to work, I was called 40 minutes after my appointment. I wasn't happy about this and did express it to the staff but needed to get the paperwork done and ask a few more questions to Dr. Hustak. The medical assistants were nice and said the Dr. wanted to talk to me prior to signing, so I said ok.
Dr. Hustak came in like a storm, sat down and started to share how concerned she was regarding what had happened. It felt like a mom scolding a child. I listened and shared my perspective, she was very emotional and upset, went on to gaslight me by saying I created a "toxic work environment" by expressing upset about the wait. She then started to revisit items, that before - we discussed and she was fine, but now she suddenly had concerns. We went over everything and had a decent conversation, but it almost felt like I was testifying and being attacked at the same time. The previous bubbly and friendly doctor turned into this angry person and showed her true colors. She may be a board-certified plastic surgeon, but she has a temper, low emotional intelligence and a fragile ego that was easily broken by a patient expressing discontentment about the 40 min wait.
She offered a refund of the deposit, if I changed my mind even after signing the paperwork. Even after she left, I did not feel good about the situation and did not sign the paperwork, I let the assistants know I would have to think it over. We were about to leave, when the CEO Karen came in and asked, "how can I help you?" We didn't ask for her nor were expecting her, but her tone came across like we had done something wrong. Amy her Healthcare Coordinator was completely different too, she went from friendly, to like we had committed some crime and avoided eye contact. I ended up paying for the consult and getting a refund for the deposit in full as it felt like this was not a good fit for a mutual collaborative exchange.
I left there shocked, completely in awe of the extreme change, and counted my blessings to God because the last thing I need is a doctor with a huge EGO and ANGER MGT issues operating on me. So, in a nutshell, if you stand up and advocate for yourself, ask questions/share concerns, they take it personal and WILL GANG UP ON YOU. They will GASLIGHT YOU, they will completely CHANGE. It is one thing to research a surgeon who may have the skills, certification, memberships, etc... but always remember the bedside manner and how they treat you when something goes wrong is the true character of the person under all the degrees.