I went to see Dr, Grey Rappe after reading a paid advertisement article written about him in a local community newspaper. In the article, it said that Dr. Rappe was the only doctor in all of Coachella Valley that was using a high powered 30 watt Laser and that he was highly knowledgeable and trained in that specialty. It even offered a "free consultation".
I was skeptical and a bit leery of a doctor offering a "free consultation" but I was in pain and having trouble moving my right arm. I had been diagnosed with lateral Epicondylitis or Tennis Elbow and I also had Plantar Fasciitis of the left foot which
I had previously seen a sports medicine doctor, podiatrist, physical therapist and acupuncturist for. In fact, I had just had xrays and an MRI done at the hospital.
I had those X ray's and MRI made available to Dr. Rappe's and was surprised when
he didn't even discuss them with me during our initial and only consultation.
Instead, the good doctor only spoke about how successful his laser treatments
were for so many others with my conditions, so I hesitantly decided to try.
The reason I say hesitantly, is because I didn't personally know the doctor and the treatments were very expensive. $75.00 for 10 minutes of laser and I needed two areas of treatment which meant $150.00 per visit and this was presented to me as being half off or a 50% off special. Since then,I have noticed that his office is always running that "Quote Unquote Special". I was also taken aback when they required me to pay for all services up front. I had never been asked to pay upfront before by any other doctor, but I had faith they were going to be able to help me and I was in a tremendous amount of pain.
I received my first treatment the following day and I was surprised to see a young woman administering the laser work. She assured me that she had been trained to do so, but I was still surprised as I had thought for the price I was paying, this treatment would be administered from Dr. Rappe himself.
Each time I came for treatment, she asked me how my pain level was in both areas before beginning. She took notes and logged in the notes by date. I was honest with her in saying that I had not been getting that much relief in either area unless I took an anti inflammatory drug called Diclofenec. After about the fifth treatment, I expressed concern with her that I felt I should be receiving more pain relief. She asked if I had been icing and resting both areas and I stated that I was following the treatment protocol. I asked if I could speak with Dr. Rappe whom I had not seen since my initial consultation. Instead, I was given a 10 minute conversation with his wife, who is conveniently, the office manager. She offered me three more treatments at no cost to me, claiming that I just needed more treatments to feel the full effect. This equaled one hour of treatment or 3 visits of 20 minutes each.
Unfortunately, even as I was approaching those final treatments I was still experiencing a great deal of pain in my foot. I then asked again to speak with Dr. Rappe, but never saw him.
Finally, on my very last visit, Dr. Rappe arrived all smiles. I was about explain to him how dissatisfied I was with the treatment, but instead I felt like I was dealing with a used car salesman. He was somewhat flirtatious in nature and told me to feel his left bicep. He was acting proud as a peacock, wanting to show me how strong he was and in what great shape he was in. He said to me "Feel this muscle, if this is how strong I am here is, just imagine how the rest of me looks!".
I was utterly FLABBERGASTED by his behavior. As he left the room, I couldn't believe what had just transpired. I knew he had been told about my dissatisfaction with the treatment and that I wanted to speak with him regarding this matter.
I felt blown off, disgusted, even a little angry. I said to the technician, what just happened here? Is he serious? Does he always act like this? She said that "he's always is kidding around like that". To me this was no laughing matter. I felt his behavior was totally unprofessional and disrespectful, clueless in nature.
He did tell me that the laser would continue to work even after my visits were completed and urged me to give the process time. I have done that over the last year and have seen little improvement. To date, my tennis elbow has only slight improvement and the fasciitis in my foot
is still as painful as the first day I walked into his office over a year ago. read more
