What a Doctor!

[OBIO]

Deb has been seeing an eye surgeon roughly even 2 weeks for the better part of a year..at least 9 months, maybe 10. The guy is a really good doctor, Deb and I feel very comfortable with his work, with his recommendations of what needs to be done to protect the cornea of her right eye. Furthermore, we simply like the guy...he isn't one of those doctors who walks into the room with an air of superiority because he has a few letters after his name, he isn't all uppity like that...just a down to earth guy who just happens to make a living doing eye surgeries. And beyond that, he is a very good person...very caring, very thoughtful, considerate. Deb and I don't have insurance...which really sucks when trying to recover from a major brain surgery (the big things were taken care of while we had insurance...just a lot of small, continual things that we have to fund out of our small pockets).

When Deb underwent the first eye surgery, in which a flap from her upper eyelid was attached to the inside of her lower eye lid to partially close the eye...the total bill was $1700 odd dollars. The doc wrote off all but $498 of it.

We saw him several, several times after that...and he simply counted it as part of the post operative follow up...no charge. Even though he has done several rounds of sutures to further close the eye, helped us through several rounds of eye infections..he charged nothing.

A couple months ago, we went in for another surgery....and he charged $138. We have seem him 4 times since then...and no charge. Two weeks ago, Deb under went another round of suturing..this time using a more permanent type of suture thread which was meant to last several months...well, Deb's body ate those sutures...totally dissolved them away...which wasn't supposed to happen.

Today, we saw the doc again and he was surprised to find the sutures gone (I carefully pulled out the remnants on Sunday) and he had his surgical staff schedule Deb for another procedure next Tuesday...he will be going in and doing another of the flappie surgeries...like the first one Deb had...the $1700 one. He instructed his surgical nurse to list this as a part of the post-operative follow up from the first procedure...in other words...he is not going to charge us a single cent for this upcoming $1700 procedure.

I am sure that some people become doctors because of the money and the social status it can bring...but not this guy. Now, I'm sure he makes a rather nice living as an eye surgeon....you should see the Mercedes he drives...very nice! But money is not what drives him, what gives him a feeling of achievement. If it were, Deb and I would have stacks of bills from his office...we have received only 2 during this whole time....and unlike other bills we owe, we aren't being nagged about these..."pay what you can, when you can" is the attitude his billing office has shown us.

Well, I guess that since I just subjected you to reading a rather long and boring pile of drivel, I should at least leave you with something for your troubles....

There is still goodness and kindess in the world.

OBIO

[lifejogger]

OBIO, your are blessed to have found such a compassionate and caring doctor. I will be praying that everything works out.

[harleyman]

That is outstanding my friend...

It is truely an act of kindness that has befriended you and Deb..

Tina and I have a simular story.

She had three sinus surgeries.her surgeon was like Debs , he was a great guy..I liked him , his style, his office and personal manner from day one.We trusted him.

Shortly after her last and final surgeries, he diccovered a mass behind her eye, deep back in the socket. he made her an appointment to see an eye specialist here in town.

That doctor sent us to Wake Forest the next day for a biospy..We were scared, knowing we were going to the cancer doctors, as that was what was expected to be found. It was a tumor, but non cancerous.

Long story short, Tina had a grouth there, a tumor, and it was fed by infection that was in the bone surrounding her eye. The infections never left her sinuses, and to help with the control of the tumor, it was imperative that the sinus be free of infection..Nothing worked .Mass amounts of medicines were used to no avail.

The only way to guarentee that her sinus stay cleared, was a weekly office visit to her surgeon..That involved numbing her, going in and physically cleaning her sinisus out ...


The insurance had long since been canceled by our company. These in office visits weekly were 780 bucks a pop.. After about 6 weeks of this, the doctor discovered we had no insurance left to pay...

he went to his secertary and had her invoice pulled, and redone, leaving us with a 20 dollar a week co pay only... he has continued to do this for us weekly for 4 years now.

Without his kindness, our bill there alone would be in the hundreds
of thousands now... he is also motivated by kindness, and the desire to help. We think the world of this great man.

I know your feelings about Deds doctor, we to have our own angel to help.

Thanks for sharing your story... I know you two have struggled...

And Deb...Don't take no stuff from your ol man....LOL hes a good one...

[stansdds]

Not all doctors are greedy. In fact, I'd say most are not. There are some who become doctors simply because they want the money, but most are doctors because they want to help people.

[Snuffy]

He obviously owns his own practice and is not a part of a large conglomerate.

My Doctor use to be is own boss, but he's since been bought out by a medical association ... his whole office atmosphere has changed.

[Mobayrasta]

He obviously owns his own practice and is not a part of a large conglomerate.

My Doctor use to be is own boss, but he's since been bought out by a medical association ... his whole office atmosphere has changed.

Same here Snuffy. My wife had back surgery in March. The Dr she was seeing and his partners became part of a big company and everything changed. Hell I owe them 600 dollars out of a 70k bill and they refuse to see her until we pay at least half. It really sucks especially when you are struggling to feed 4 mouths with one pay check.

She just got turned down for disability even though she can barely move, so the look is on for a lawyer.

I would kill for a doctor who actuall seemed to give a damn.

[harleyman]

Same here Snuffy. My wife had back surgery in March. The Dr she was seeing and his partners became part of a big company and everything changed. Hell I owe them 600 dollars out of a 70k bill and they refuse to see her until we pay at least half. It really sucks especially when you are struggling to feed 4 mouths with one pay check.

She just got turned down for disability even though she can barely move, so the look is on for a lawyer.

I would kill for a doctor who actuall seemed to give a damn.



That is sad to here ....Over 700 bucks...many of my wifes doctors are like that..you owe a cent, and they refuse to see you..Like they are saying, sorry she died, you owed us money dude...Idiots .Corporation and policy at its best...BLEH

[cheezyflier]

obio, that's great to hear.

i wish i could say the same thing about the docs up here.
but i can't.