Nobody knew I had MG at the time of those xrays. Nobody still believes it, except my ophthalmologist. Not even the neurologist who has me on pyridostigmine, because she's never had a sero-negative MG before. Is why she sent me to the super specialist at Yale, and hasn't wanted to see or do anything with/for me in the seven months I've been waiting for my appointment with him.

Only one pulmonology group in the area, up at the hospital. Been there, done that, got blown off. Yes, they saw the slowed, shallow breathing during the sleep study. But it wasn't sleep apnea, where you stop, so there was no reason to try a cpap and no further need to see me. But doc, what about the slow, shallow breathing when I sit/lay at certain angles? Yes, we saw that, you may have AN apnea but it's not SLEEP apnea. Good bye.
All the breathing tests? They only present the best run of each test type, when the reports are prepared. The techs yell at you, YELL, if you don't do it good enough. Dude, if I could do what you want, I wouldn't be here! No, do it again. DO IT!!!! DO IT RIGHT THIS TIME!!!!

Everything, and almost everyone, medical within 3 hospitals of us (one 20 miles north, one 30 miles south) is now owned by this one corporation. The doctors get penalized if they waste too much time on your visit. They are not allowed to refer you to other doctors outside the system unless there isn't one of that kind in the system. They are not allowed to diagnose without a confirmed lab report. They are not allowed to contradict a colleague's diagnosis or denial of a diagnosis--I was told that directly by an office manager when she called to tell me she was cancelling my appointment with a second doctor in that office. NOT ALLOWED to change a colleague's evaluation, and I was NOT ALLOWED to see a second doctor in the same group for a second opinion. You have to go outside the system to get a different diagnosis, then bring that report back in before anyone will be allowed to treat you for it. ALLOWED, whether they are willing or not is a whole 'nother matter.

And that goes for ALL the doctors around here, not just the pulmonologists. There are 3, only 3, rheumatologists here, all in one office. There is ONE office of ENT's. One office of endocrinologists, takes 7 months to get an appointment (not a first one, a follow-up), so heaven help anyone with diabetes who needs more than their gp can handle. One group of neurologists local, and all the good ones left when the group finally caved in and joined (let themselves be taken over) by the hospital corporation. The one I use is 30 miles away, in a group only partially taken over so far, so she still dared to try the pyridostigmine on me, even without a piece of paper telling her to. It's bad. Really bad.
Had a good endocrinologist, cardiologist, gp, orthopedist, etc.--they all left within the first year this corporation took over. Left the area. Moved to other states. Really. Every last one.

Only the optometrists and ophthalmologists in the area are not owned by this place. And one pediatrics group, who have aligned with one of the big NYC names, to protect themselves.

I can no longer drive. There is no public transportation here, even if I would dare to try traveling it alone. My husband has to go to work, if he loses the job we lose health insurance (and the house and everything), he only gets so many vacation days a year, to use on taking me to places like this doctor at Yale. (We don't vacation. Days are too valuable.) I have no IRL friends left, they have jobs and kids and lives, cannot take their days off to take me places.

So, there will be no better pulmonologist. I will likely be stuck with this crappy neurologist, who is better than the ones I've seen before who wouldn't even bother to try the pyridostigmine since the AChR test said negative, end of story, go take a walk, you'll feel better.

Sixteen years, YEARS, I have been trying to get this figured out.
I get mad at my family if they put the cups in the cabinet stacked instead of singly, because stacked cups mean I have to hold my arms up longer, while I separate a cup out, all that time, what, 10-20 seconds, of my arms screaming "I can't stay up like this!! Let me drop down!" while I desperately try to get that cup free before I have to stop and rest and then try again. Sixteen years. So when some a--wipe of a supposed doctor starts telling me to stop being anxious and go take a walk, I'll feel better, he's likely to get told off. I am now too old and too cranky and too fed up to be blown off anymore. And, what the hell, if they're already blowing me off, there is nothing to be lost.