Yes, I did. It was about four months ago. I had reasons, but I felt bad about it for months. I still sometimes question the decision.

Why did I decided it was time for a new doctor?

The biggest problem was communication. It just didn't seem like he was listening to me. He also seemed forgetful. He would often ask me questions that should have been in the records right in front of him. One time, he started to complain about how hard it is to be a doctor these days and our roles reversed as I consoled him about how complex our world has become. I think he had too many patients.

I also think that doctors don't know how to say to a patient that there may be a doctor out there who may be a better fit for the patient--it seems only patients can do that. Even though human relationships change often, we seem to elevate the doctor-patient and/or patient-doctor relationship above the status a of all other human relationships.

My thinking at the time was simply that this wasn't working as well as it could or should. It was nothing personal. Some people we get along with just fine and others we don't.

So I scheduled an appointment with my former doctor and sent him a note about putting a sort of closure on our relationship. I thought it would be a good idea to make an opportunity to part on a positive note. Well, he canceled the appointment and refused to see me. I haven't seen him since.

Choosing a new doctor isn't exactly easy. I read online biographies of just about all of the doctors in town--it's a small town. I checked their affiliations. I talked to people. I even found that many doctors offices have "meet the doctor" appointments that are usually free, so I interviewed three doctors after I read about them on their web sites.

It has taken months to build a new relationship with my new doctor. The first thing he wanted to do was talk to my previous doctor and just continue doing what he had been doing. This was in spite of the fact that during my meet-the-doctor interview, I told the new doctor that I wanted a fresh (i.e. unbiased) opinion. Lately, though, the new doctor seems to be living up to his promise to make up his own mind.

In the end, I believe I did the right thing. I still regret hurting the feelings of my previous doctor. It didn't have to be that way, but in my opinion, it was his choice.

Karl