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| - I don't write many reviews, but others have a right to know just what level of care they will receive. This may be long, but this horror story is necessary when choosing a doctor.
I previously saw Dr. Langer and I LOVED her. However, my medical insurance changed & I had to see a new doctor, even though I didn't want to. Dr. Helms took my insurance, so we decided it would be best to switch to Dr. Helms, since I had a sensitive medical history. I became pregnant right around the time my insurance changed, & didn't have a chance to meet Dr. Helms. A friend of mine used her, & said that she was not "warm and fuzzy, but she was direct and knew her stuff." I can handle, I thought.
With my sensitive medical history, I was told by Dr. Langer to have blood work drawn IMMEDIATELY upon finding out that I was pregnant. She had an order waiting for me. I came in on a Tuesday, and followed up on that same Thursday for blood work. I received a call from the office with my results from Tuesday, but Thursdays was not in.
The following Tuesday, I had more blood work done, and had still not received results from the previous Thursday. A few hours after returning home, I began to bleed. Obviously scared, I called Dr. Helms. Later that day, Dr. Helms called me back, & said that my results from Thursday had been LOST, so we had no #'s to go off of. This was terrible news when a pregnant woman is bleeding. In addition, I asked if I should take time off of work, due to the high physical demand of my job, & she made me feel stupid for even asking, & said "yes." So, I took a week off of work. She said she would not be in the office the following day, but Stephanie would call me with my results. The following day, I waited until around 3 & I realized she wasn't going to call me, so I called her and left a message. She finally called & told me that she COULD NOT give me my results, because Dr. Helms had not given the ok. She said she would call me back the following day (Thursday). Long story short, she NEVER called, even after I left her a message. Friday rolls around, & I don't know if I should go in to have more blood drawn, because Stephanie won't call me back. I assume it's the best thing to do since one day of results was lost & we need to know if things are ok after bleeding. I get to the office, & there is no order for me. The phlebotomist gets up & asks Stephanie for the ok. Stephanie walks into the room where I am sitting, acts like I'm not there & says, "ok" & walks away. I ask the phlebotomist to bring her back in, because I need information. AGAIN, she tells me she cannot give me ANY info, but will call me later that day. Well, SHE NEVER called!
Let this sink in-I have a sensitive medical history with pregnancies, I've experienced bleeding, my blood has been lost, and I have NO idea what is going on because no one will call me back! That takes me into the WEEKEND, where all I am thinking is the worst.
Monday afternoon, Dr. Helms called me back, & acting annoyed, she indicated that my levels were fine, & that it appears things were progressing fine. She was ready to hang up, but I had more questions. I asked if I could go back to work, & she acted like that was a stupid question and said, "Well, we don't have all these pregnant women on bed rest. Of course." Then I asked when I should be seen by her, especially for an ultrasound. She said, "We don't do ultrasounds in the office anymore, but there is nothing to see anyways. Scheduling will have to talk to you about this, but we don't switch doctors in this practice." Mind you, I was 7 weeks pregnant when a heartbeat should be detectable, & I had ultrasounds at 5/6 weeks with previous pregnancies to assure viability. At that moment, I realized that they felt like I was an annoyance, & that they did not want my business. There was no care or concern for me or my child.
I called another doctors office, & they got me in the following day, where they did an ultrasound, & I saw my baby with a heartbeat.
Unfortunately, I had another issue arise, & had to speak with Stephanie about an urgent matter. I dialed her ext. & she answered. I asked my question & when she realized who I was, she put me on hold for 10 minutes, came back & said, "I'm really busy, I'll have to call you back." SHE NEVER CALLED ME BACK.
Pregnancy is a scary & emotional time, but when you add complications to the mix, those emotions increase. A doctor should show care & compassion, & more importantly, return phone calls & keep patients informed. If calling to get results is annoying to you, you need to find a better system or assistant. No one should ever have to go A WEEK to get simple test results or a phone call from their medical provider. Dr. Helms and Stephanie make a terrible team who fail to communicate and show any care for their patients. In addition, the office no longer has an ultrasound tech, & will send you out of office to have those done, making care even more complicated.
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