How to Find the Right Doctor

Hi my name is Ed and I live in Woburn MA and I am trying to find help for a medical condition that has been bothering for some time now. One important piece of information here is that I am not diabetic. It all started in 2008 when I started getting sharp pains in left ankle. The doctors ( orthopedic specialists ) could not pin down the problem. They put me in a cast for a few weeks and it did help a little but once the cast was remove the pain came right back. I was then sent to New England Baptist Hospital where a foot specialist told me that my feet had fallen, no big surprise I have had flat feet all my life. They fit out a brace for my left foot and it did help for a few months. Then brace became too painful to wear and to make it more interesting the pains now ran up my left leg and spread to my right side.

Sometime in 2009 my legs started getting weaker especially after I would lift heavy objects or climb stairs. The doctors were now baffled and they had all kinds of tests done on me MRI,s EMG,s brain scans and whatever else they could come up with, all negative. During all of this my ability to walk was slowly becoming compromise. The distance I could cover was diminishing and the pain I was experiencing grew, the supermarket was even becoming too much.

In 2011 a doctor at NEPH came up with a diagnosis of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis. I now needed surgery to fix my problem. I had the surgery in July 2011. At first it seemed to have worked and I thought I was on the mend but as I started to move around more the pain started up again. To me this is a key part now. I had been off my feet a long time and walked very little at first. They also kept me on painkillers throughout this time. I tried to cut them back at times only to find that if I wanted to walk on even sit for any length of time the pain became too much. The surgeon told me there was nothing left for him to do and I was sent to a Pain Clinic in Waltham, MA. The Pain Center came to the diagnosis of Polyneuropathy after an EMG. They gave me the drugs to treat the neuropathic pain I was feeling, Lyrica, Cymbalta, Gabapentin and a few others, none of which had any positive effect. It was now well into 2012 and I was walking less and less and using a wheelchair more and more. I learned enough about Polyneuropathy to know that pain killers were not used to treat it, so I went to my PCP and asked if it would be a good idea to quit them and he was all for it and told me I would feel better, so I quit them. I did learn during this process that I was doing okay on half the amount they had been feeding me, but I did quit them by January 2013. I was moving even less now walking and sitting became more difficult, I spend most of my time on the couch now.

In January 2013 my PCP sent me to Mass General Hospital to see another neurologist. He was very thorough and went all of my records. I had another MRI done of my lower back. In February he called and informed me that he could not see any neuropathy in all the tests I had done. He did comment that the start of this the pains started in my ankle and that maybe my feet were the problem. He also comment on the possible use of an orthopedic surgeon to fuse bones. Funny thing I went to a foot doctor in January 2013 she told me my feet were so messed up that she could not help me.

My PCP after all this is convinced that it is some form of neuropathy and even suggested a higher dose of Gabapentin which was a bad idea since the higher doses of this really effects my emotional state.

I continue to decline and just a couple of weeks ago I felt a hard thud in my left lower leg and shortly later when walking it felt like my heels were sinking into the floor. I am at the point now where I must seek out other help. I realize that modern medicine is a science but it is also an art with all its unknowns.

There is a lot more information about this and I have condensed this as much as I could. Thank you for reading this.

Edward Doherty of MA 4:28PM March 01, 2013

I am having a hard time finding a great doctor around the Sugarland area, for my children. One is a teenager, the other is preteen. I want the best for them. I do have insuarance. I need a neurologist for their age group. Please let me know if you have any recommendations with good reviews. Thank you. Lisa

Lisa Davidek of TX 11:24AM February 19, 2013

DEAR DOCTORS,

I AM SENDING THE MEDICAL REPORTS AND CT SCAN REPORTS.

KINDLY HELP ME TO TAKE A DECISION WHICH TREATMENT HAVE TO GO THROUGH.

AFTER VIEWING THE REPORTS OUR DOCTOR REFERRED FOR A CHEMOTHERAPY.

IS IT NECESSARY FOR IT TO DO THE CHEMOTHERAPY.

MY NAME IS BIJU, I AM LOOKING HOW I CAN FIND A GOOD MEDICATION FOR MY WIFE, MRS.BRUNEL. I AM HAVING 2 CHILDREN, BRITNEY (9 YRS.) AND BRENLIN (7 YRS.)

SEEKING FOR A QUICK ADVICE.

THANKS

BIJU KAVIRAJAN

0097150 7685071

DUBAI, UAE

BIJU KAVIRAJAN 11:32AM January 19, 2013

I am in search of a primary care physician, on the staff of University Medical Center, Tucson, AZ. How can I critique them?

Bernice Garcia of AZ 5:23PM July 15, 2012