Appointment tomorrow

[Willow7733]

I go for my first face to face appointment with this new rheumatologist tomorrow. A little nervous. I haven’t had good luck with rheumatologists in the past. This is the one who saw me in the hospital after I had a few pulmonary embolisms. It was during Covid (not the cause of my blood clots. They determined it was lupus with APS.) so my appointments with this new guy have been over the phone. And have averaged only about one minute long. Why am I even going tomorrow?? What am I thinking??

[IndianaNurse]

One minute consultations over the telephone would be, to me, a flag. I understand, better than some people, that the healthcare industry is still overloaded. However, it is difficult to establish a comfortable relationship with a doctor or a nurse NP over the phone, even more difficult when the consults are so brief. Good luck. I hope your face to face appointment goes better.

[Lizard28]

I had a phone appointment with my haematologist but when I answered it, it was a different doctor that I didn’t know, he asked me how I was,I said fine and that was it, and he said I would get another call in 3 months 🙄. My usual doctor would go through my records and talk about my last bloods, ask me loads of questions. I think my call lasted less than a minute, deflated to say the least. My rheumatologist funnily enough talks more on the phone than she does in a f2f, but personally I don’t like phone appointments, I get a bit nervous before the call, I talk more with a real appointment.

[Alida_Bennett Partner LUPUS UK]

Hi Willow7733

Please find below a link to our blog article which has lots of useful advice around how to get the most from medical appointments.

lupusuk.org.uk/getting-the-...

I hope this has reached you before your appointment and that you find it useful, but if I can help further, do please let me know.

Kind regards

Alida

[Willow7733 in reply to Alida_Bennett]

Wow! Thank you!

[Willow7733]

I had the best appointment ever! It lasted an hour and a half! I got confirmation that I have lupus and APS and now also arthritis in my knees, fingers, and lower back. I was given a cortisone shot in my lower back and am looking forward to a good night’s sleep finally! He also showed me my CT scans of my blood clots in my lungs. Really cool. I was impressed by his state of the art computer software, and he was excited to tell me all about it.

[Tiggywoos in reply to Willow7733]

Willow I’m so pleased for you … posts like this give me much needed hope . Sleep well 😊xxx

[Willow7733 in reply to Tiggywoos]

I was so nervous going in. I arrived there an hour early and sat in the parking lot. lol

[Krazykat26 in reply to Willow7733]

Yay!! Well done Willow 🙌🤗It's lovely to read good news this morning. Hope you had a lovely night's sleep n that the steroid shot works it's magic real soon 💜🌈😽😽xx

[Willow7733 in reply to Krazykat26]

I had the best sleep and I think the injection is working even better today! My fingers are less stiff. I wish I had this years ago!

[StriatedCaracara in reply to Willow7733]

Brilliant news. Now can let it sink in🙂💤, hope you are resting up.

🏥I think some things are now starting to pick up a bit ..hoping...🙏

[Willow7733 in reply to StriatedCaracara]

It is very good that I finally am getting some answers and that I found someone who is willing to sit and work with me. He was SO different face to face than on the phone. And now that I saw him face to face, I feel much more relaxed talking to him on the phone. My next appointment is the 20th of October - by phone. So I think I will be far less anxious.

[KayHimm in reply to Willow7733]

Sounds like you got the benefit of state-of-the-art software and a super doc! You played a part in your productive visit too.

😀 Kay

[Willow7733 in reply to KayHimm]

That is so true! And it feels good that I advocated for myself and got something out of it. I was honestly thinking I would go there and he would tell me he doesn’t need to see me anymore.

[Oshgosh]

Hi, hope your consultation went ok