My first experience with a cardiologist was not auspicious. I went to the emergency room at the Fairbanks Memorial Hospitals with symptoms of dizziness, nausea and difficulty breathing. I was allowed to leave the hospital only if I agree to fly to see a cardiologist Anchorage the next day.
(In the emergency room, on a late Saturday night, I was put on a gurney that was too small for me and very uncomfortable, and put in the same room as a woman screaming and moaning as she was going through alcohol withdrawal. Not hard to convince me to leave as soon as I could.)
I continued to feel dizziness and nausea in the Anchorage waiting room. I was seen for fifteen minutes by an overweight, non-compassionate, and hurried cardiologist. (I was charged $300 for a fifteen minute “thorough” heart evaluation.) There was no human connection.
The cardiologist was going on vacation, and suggested that I come back in two weeks for an angiogram. I had barely made it up the elevator without passing out. I flew home that day, very depressed, anxious, symptomatic and uninformed. When I searched the internet and tried to figure out my symptoms, I kept coming up with the diagnosis of “unstable angina.”
I called a doctor friend in San Francisco who I had gone to school with; he said to fly down to California Pacific Medical School and they would take care of me immediately. My wife and I hurriedly made travel arrangements: I arrived in San Francisco within 24 hours. I went to the emergency room, was hospitalized and had a stent put in the next morning. (I had a long 95% blockage in my left descending artery, known as “the widow-maker”.)
The first cardiologist I saw was probably guilty of malpractice; the cardiologist in San Francisco was among the most exceptional people and physicians I have met. Over the next years, I saw two more mediocre cardiologists and one who almost killed me when he nicked an artery putting in a stent. I finally went to the Mayo Clinic to get checked out. (The cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic listened to me, related to me, did a more than thorough evaluation. I cannot recommend the Mayo Clinic highly enough.)
However, none of the cardiologists or clinics did any kind of thorough follow-up by telephone. It would have been simple to continue monitoring with weekly telephone calls; I am absolutely sure that telephone calls and consistent follow-up would have prevented some of the further ordeals I went through. More on this in the next post.
(see www.heartattackandsoul.com for the full story.)
