I recently had a new patient visit with this Dr. When scheduling the appointment, I expressed I…read moreneeded some immediate help as I am struggling with major depression, GAD, PTSD. They were able to work me in the very next day. I let the receptionist know that I would have my two young children with me as I am a SAHM without daytime childcare available. They said that would be just fine.
I arrive 30 min before my scheduled appointment to make sure I had adequate time to answer any questions and fill out any paperwork for new patients. I also came prepared with my medical history printed out, upcoming appointments, the medical team I had been seeing prior to this visit, and a thorough list of symptoms I've been experiencing for more than six months.
The nurse who brought me in initially was amazing. She took time to speak with me, helped reduce my anxiety about working with a new doctor, took time to talk to my children so that we all would feel welcomed and respected. Her bedside manner helped me feel at ease and comfortable with the decision to work with a new PCP.
Then the Dr came in. My toddler was in front of the door when she knocked, and I said just one moment, but she still opened it as I was picking up my child. She seemed annoyed. She sat down, and began asking questions. As I was answering, my children were starting to get antsy and so I asked for a moment to redirect and distract my kids (I brought snacks, books, iPad, my phone, all this stuff to help occupy them). She began to complain that they were distracting her and asked if I could have someone watch them before our next visit. I shared that I am a SAHM, my Husband works during the day, and that I don't have childcare available. That I'm it. Once the kids resettled, I attempted on going over what I've been experiencing and that there were a couple of things that I really needed addressed immediately. She refused to go into detail and discuss any alternative suggestions and said everything I'm experiencing is just anxiety. She assumed I was looking for a quick fix and said that there is no magic pill. She didn't want to change anything I'm currently doing to relieve any of the symptoms until after I go to my follow up appointments which were more than a month out. My kids began moving around a little bit, interacting with each other so I asked for another moment to resituate them. As I got up, so did she and she put on her gloves to prepare for some kind of examination. When I turned around after the kids were situated, she took off her gloves and said that she cannot examine me because my kids were too distracting and that I had to find childcare before our next visit. Once again I said I'm it but I will try. As she was talking, I sat down and began to tear up because I felt humiliated and I couldn't believe that I was being refused any kind of treatment or exam even though the office said it was fine to bring my kids. She didn't acknowledge how I was feeling, said she would see me in month, and just left the room.
I was appalled, embarrassed, and felt an anxiety attack coming on. As I walked out of the room with my children to the receptionist window, I'm trying to keep it together but I'm really crying at this point. My older child was trying to comfort me and told the receptionist that the doctor couldn't see me because they were being distracting. That really upset me because my own kids felt as if they had done something wrong and that it was their job to make me feel better. The receptionist also did not acknowledge what was going on, set a date, handed me my visit summary, and shut the window.
That was it.
