| rev:text
| - Over the past two months, I have seen Dr. Heiland twice and I am SO glad that I did.
Back Story:
I had been insanely ill for two weeks with what I thought was a cold. After realizing that my throat was oddly swollen on one side, I went to the Walgreens clinic and was diagnosed with a "mystery infection". 10 days of antibiotics later, the infection hadn't gone away. I was recommended to Valley ENT by a friend and the first time I called, I spoke with Lauren.
Lauren was incredibly pleasant and encouraging during this first call. My insurance had lapsed after I was laid off, and I was stuck needing a doctor with no insurance. Lauren encouraged me to have COBRA reinstate my insurance, but told me that in the mean time, the first office visit would be $250 (which covered all procedures done in office). Of course, that sounded steep, so I said I would think about it.
That night, my fever spiked to 102-- the next day, I called Lauren back, begging for an appointment. The doctor who I was originally referred to (whose name I can't remember) was unavailable, but Lauren said she could get me in THAT DAY with Dr. Heiland. I happily took the appointment.
First Appointment: Sept 4th
My boyfriend drove me to the Valley ENT office for my 3 o'clock appointment. We ended up waiting for a full hour before I was seen. Of course, I was unhappy (and sick) about this, but I often expect to wait in doctor's offices. During our wait, we checked out the massive fish tank. The office staff offered us bottles of water and magazines and apologized for the wait.
I was called back and the medical assistant (I think) escorted me into the exam room. She was nice, took my temperature and got some details from me. Dr. Heiland came in shortly thereafter and all I can say is wow.
Let me list out the reasons I was so impressed:
1. Dr. Heiland sat down, away from the computer, with a pen and pad of paper. He said that he had read over my chart, but wanted me to describe to him what had been going on. I'm a SUPER detailed person, so I rattled off the whole story. Dr. Heiland scrawled notes the whole time, asked me more detailed questions, and even included my boyfriend in the conversation. His full attention given to me the whole time. Awesome. He even had a sense of humor, which is always welcome.
1a. When Dr. Heiland had to examine me, he informed me that I had nice ears and teeth and that my nasal cavity curved to the left. This entire exchange was really fun/funny-- and totally nerdy. Two thumbs up.
2. Dr. Heiland was really knowledgeable about all things ear-nose-and throat (and it was clear). He explained that I had an infected lymph node, why it was making me feel the way it was, what we would do if it got better, and what we would do if it didn't.
3. At no point during our encounter was I lost in "doctor jargon". If anything was unclear, and either my boyfriend or myself asked, Dr. Heiland would explain more in detail. Not at all condescending, but completely helpful.
4. When giving me another 3 week dose of antibiotics, Dr. Heiland recommended a brand of probiotic pills and Activia yogurt to help my system. He even prescribed an anti-fungal in advance, in case it became an issue. This made me feel like he was really considering my whole body/looking at the big picture.
5. I got all of this great service DESPITE my not having insurance. He also encouraged me to get COBRA, as if we needed to remove the lymph node, it would be expensive-- but he didn't make me feel bad about not having insurance. Kind and supportive all around.
Our appointment lasted at least an hour, if not more. The entire staff stayed after the office had closed, because we were the last patients to leave. They didn't rush us out, everyone was so nice. We were blown away.
Initially, I deducted 1 star from my review for the hour wait, but when I realized how much time and attention Dr. Heiland dedicated to each patient, I added the star back, because no one likes being rushed, and it is important to really HEAR your patients.
Second Appointment: October 4th @ 2.
My infection had resolved itself, thank goodness! I went in for a follow up appointment just to verify. My appointment was at 2, but again, we didn't see Dr. Heiland until later (shrug). Once we did, Dr. Heiland was really nice and funny, as usual. The visit/exam was only about 10 minutes. He did explain precautions/what to do in the future, but it was an in and out kind of office experience.
Perhaps the best part was that when my boyfriend and I left the exam room, the two medical assistants AND the office staff stood up and shouted "Yay!" and clapped for my lack of infection. It was seriously adorable.
I maintain 5 stars for this entire situation, despite the tardiness. I really valued being listened to and being treated like a whole person. I think it's great that Dr Heiland's whole office team are so nice. I like EVEN MORE that he treated my infection and it went away. Thanks Valley ENT!
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)