Incandescently Angry

"Nothing you put on the internet is private."
Unknown

"She died after a long battle with doctors."
Obituary


I wasn't going to complain. I said to myself, "You should just be quiet and take it like a man! Nothing you say or do will help. Patients are virtually helpless in the face of determined, oppressive doctors and you of all people should know that by now."

Then my goat got up and walked out.

Dr. Breathtakingly Arrogant has struck again.

I'm trying to make an appointment with a new migraine doctor. I had already spoken to this doctor personally and he agreed to see me, telling me to call his office to make an appointment. His nurse called me back a few minutes ago.

First, she woke me up. I'm a pleasant morning person, rarely wake up in a bad mood. How long it takes the world to assault me varies but I wake up feeling positive and optimistic. She, it became apparent, is not a morning person.

Second, she began grilling me about making this appointment. No need to relate the details. You all know how doctor's offices can be.

Third, she scolded me about the medicines prescribed by Dr. Breathtakingly Arrogant. Where on earth did she get that? When I left the message asking to make the appointment, I left no such information. What difference would it make to her anyway, since all I wanted was to make the appointment and the doctor himself had already agreed to see me??

Then, it dawned on me. She was looking at something, somewhere, that contained my former chart information.

I haven't written about my problems with Dr. Breathtakingly Arrogant. The problems were numerous and serious, unlike any I have ever encountered, and included Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violations. The most troubling from my perspective was the false information he submitted to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in connection with my disability retirement application. When OPM asked for test records to substantiate the outrageous statements he had made and for the names of physicians he would have referred me to for further treatment of these non-existent conditions, he quietly removed all references to everything except the Migraine treatment he provided and then Meniere's Syndrome referral he made and submitted the new records without a word.

When it was time to find another doctor, my most Excellent Assistant Offspring, who had fielded all these problems and dealt with his office and OPM under POA from me, asked for my records. His office refused to give them up saying they would only submit them directly to the new doctor. Part of HIPPA clarifies that patients own their records, not the health care providers. My daughter had to ONCE AGAIN go through the clinic's Patient Relations Department for the umpteenth time in order to get my records. What he gave me, of course, is only part of the story but not to worry. The Sparkling Assistant Offspring glows brighter than I do and has all the bogus OPM submissions as well as everything else he has submitted to them--sorted, filed, and categorized like the librarian she is--so I feel like I have a complete file.

If this doctor has made yet another unauthorized disclosure of my information by any route, and if it contained especially bogus information, I believe I may consider filing a HIPPA complaint with the Office of Civil Rights.

I have been seeing doctors for many, many years. I've had migraine since I was 5 years old. I've got thyroid disease (eleven thyroid nodules), mitral valve prolapse, asthma--the list goes on. I know doctors and how to work with them. The most important issue is empowerment. Once a doctor sees that he isn't working with a limp dishrag but instead an educated patient intent on getting well, then real progress can be made. My hearing has been restored by careful work with the excellent neurotologist I see. Progress can be made.

I blog for several reasons and one of them is for Migraine Advocacy. Why, why do my Advocacy efforts have to include how my support system and I solve personal bad experiences? Obviously, that's the way God wants it.

I'm ill from anger and frustration--these things don't affect Migraine but do trigger Meniere's symptoms and my ears are already about to explode and my right Meniere's ear tinnitus is sounding like Chinese gongs. Woke up feeling not too terribly horrible. This will give me a chance to practice the energy balancing and crystal work I've been formulating to see how well they work for me when I'm under pressure. I have a goal to go back to school. I must get well enough to be able to do that. I will never be able to become a doctor myself if I cannot heal myself.

Of one thing you all may be certain; I'll be an expert in HIPPA regulations from the patient's side. If I can get well and get my PhD, nothing that has happened to me will never happen to any patient of mine.

See, I want to be a transpersonal depth psychologist. To try to "psychologize" me is the wrong approach. :)


On Twitter--Parin Stormlaughter

Copyright 2008-2009 Parin Stormlaughter, Sparkling With Crystals, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I do not grant reprint permission. Contact me to request permission to link. And remember that if my work gets published anywhere else, I'll pray for you. And perhaps take legal action. Rest assured, prayer is far more effective.