In my experience, Robert Wohlman of Northwest Gastroenterology Associates was a poor diagnostician…read more
In 2003, I was sick, really sick. Almost every night, I suffered from severe heartburn. The only thing that I could do during these heartburn attacks was to sit up, browse the internet or watch television. Some nights I threw up, some nights I did not.
Finally, I went to a primary care physician who thought it might be GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). She wrote a prescription for a proton inhibitor antacid and said that I should see a specialist if the drugs didn't help.
After a month, there was no improvement, so I searched for a specialist. Having no idea of what gastroenterologist might be good, I relied on Seattle Magazine's top doctor list, which led me to Dr. Robert Wohlman.
My first impression was positive. Dr. Wohlman examined my abdomen and took some notes regarding my symptoms. He prescribed Nexium, a different proton inhibitor from the one I had been taking.
Another month went by, still no improvement. I went back, this time Dr. Wohlman doubled the Nexium dosage and setup an endoscopy appointment. Dr. Wolhman also performed the endoscopy. However, the endoscopy and stomach tissue biopsy found no abnormalities. Thank God I didn't have cancer. But I still had frequent nightly heartburn. Now I was getting so afraid of the pain, that I was reluctant to eat anything.
A few more months went by, and after an especially severe and prolonged throwing up episode, I went back. For this appointment, I came prepared with questions inspired from researching gastroenterological diseases. For reasons unknown, Dr. Wohlman prescribed nortriptyline, a drug primarily used to treat major depression, and sometimes, albeit rarely, irritable bowel syndrome.
At this point, I had lost all confidence in Dr. Wohlman's ability and motivation to determine the cause of my ailment. But I thought he could still be helpful to setup further diagnostic tests. Fingers crossed, literally.
I already had an inconclusive endoscopy and didn't want a colonoscopy. So I thought perhaps I should get an ultrasound. To me my symptoms were similar to gallstones except for the pain between the shoulder blades and pain under the right shoulder.
So for the next visit, I described to Dr. Wohlman my "new" symptoms of shoulder blade pain and right shoulder pain. I practically spelled out "GALLSTONES" to him. Subsequently, his nurse setup the ultrasound appointment.
Lucky for me, the ultrasound showed gallstones, and I had my gallbladder removed that same week. Three tiny incisions later, my gallbladder and heartburn were now history.
I've been heartburn free for over 4 years now.
I'm saddened that Dr. Wohlman didn't spend enough time on me as a patient to figure out what was wrong. I feel that he was too eager to simply prescribe medication. Perhaps that is just what the medical establishment is like nowadays.
