My PCP is a nice guy, I like him. He's older, near retirement age. He was a medic/doctor in the Vietnam War. He has a couple of grandkids now, I think he should retire and move to Florida to be near them...

Now to the point of my post. He tests too much sometimes and it's starting to bother me. It gets to the point that he scares me that something bad is wrong. When I had GERD, he put me through a battery of heart tests, I was worried for weeks. I ended up going to a different doctor and clinic to get tested and treated for the GERD because of it. Also because we don't have a gastro doctor on staff at our hospital...

So, I went to get my quarterly blood tests last week, the liver panel necessary for the Tysabri treatment. He also did my cholesterol check, which was fine. He had me repeat my CBC tests because my WBC levels are "off". So he called me yesterday, and said they're still "off". He wants a repeat in two weeks. If they're still "off", I'll need a full hematology workup. See where I'm going with this? Is he just making a mountain out of a molehill to do a bunch of tests?

Once when I was in the lab, I told the tech I was there for a recheck, she said, Oh, you must have Dr. ***. (she smiles)

I said so, he orders lots of tests? She said, yes, but if you get really sick, he's the one you want.

So, I guess I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place with dear old Dr. ***. God bless him, he sure can stress me out with the tests. But he sure came through when I had a medical emergency once.

I suppose if I don't go back for the retest in two weeks, it will really, really be something serious this time, eh?

It's hard to know how to feel about this stuff, Wiz. Like you said, on the one hand...

Maybe you'd be better off with a younger doc who has been educated with the more current technologies. I don't mean to say that your current doc is not adequately up to date, but sometimes a fresher approach is beneficial.

I made it a point to find docs who are my age or younger so I can hope their careers will outlive me.

And, yes, lol, if you are subject to Murphy's Law like I am, my deepest condolences to you and Mr. Wiz!

Mr. Wiz can't stand him, because of the over-testing. He used to be his doctor too, but Mr. Wiz lost patience with him. He'd be glad if I switched. Then again, he knows that he can be good during bad times.

Mr. Wiz's doctor is in Elburn, which is about 12 miles or so, and the hospital he'd go to would be a 40 minute drive. I don't know how comfortable I'd be with that in case of an emergency, but the better doctors are concentrated there.

If DeKalb could just attract some more talent and actually keep them here it would be great.

That's why I'm still with this doctor. When he does retire I have to figure out who will be my PCP. If I go with one of the DeKalb doctors, chances are if I find a good one (and younger one) they aren't going to stay here. If I want to drive to St. Charles or Elburn for appts. there's a better group to choose from and they'll most likely stay there as well. If I want to see my doctor at the ER for some reason, it can be a treacherous drive in the winter.

I guess it depends on what style you are more comfortable with.

Personally I want every single test on the books with the exception of a prostate exam, lol. For me, whenever I get a wonky blood value etc. I've already gone to the worse case scenario in my mind anyway so the Doc isn't scaring me and I'd really rather turn over every rock stat than play catch-up later. Just my two cents though.

Good luck!

My pcp is up for every test in the book too - and he's one of the old school guys too, like yours.

Can you talk to him? Really talk?

I will tell my doc, if my gut says this isn't anything serious, can we just wait and see? And he'll just go with that usually.

That's the rock and the hard place. With the older ones, you have to back them off a little. With the younger ones, I feel like I'm gonna have to wait for Dr. G, Medical Examiner to figure me out.

Howdy Wiz, definitely a catch 22, i can totally relate with the worry part of it, at first I went through a lot of test and got my mind to thinking(yeah I know scary thought), and of course for some reason I go to worse case scenarios first and it doesnt help stress levels, but like you said you, were glad he was there when you needed him, and he is thorough, so you are pretty safely being watched,

My PCP before the one I have now was like your doctor, very, very thorough. I really liked her. She was the most passionate and concerned doctor I had ever come across ( and I was a nurse before my MS started worsening). But then, she relocated to Florida because of the really high malpractice rates here. The PCP I have now is very conservative on testing. I'd rather she be more thorough. Was just giving you my perspective. I think it's better to be too thorough.

No Sandy, but they're mailing me a copy because I want to fax them to the neuro's office. I'll scan them in when I get them and you can see how they look. My sister also knows these things, she's a lab tech at a hospital.

And of course you're all right, it's better that he's too thorough I suppose.

Cool, you have a sis who's a lab tech. I worked in a lab for over 13 years and we get to know what's a normal result and what's off. It's when they get in the critical level that raises a concern. I wonder if your WBC's are low like some people with ms? Jim used to have a WBC of 4-5, yet he never got sick. Now that he's back in the "normal" stage he's sick. Go figure.

My neuro is the exact same! Granted, I do not have MS, I have MG, but he (my neuro) started me on Cellept 2 months ago and still has me go in for blood work every week - every week! I'm terribly afaid of needles, but am more afrad of ending back up the hospital, so I gladly go every week.

My doc is also fabulous in that he calls me back for every reason - no question is too "silly" for him. He also calls me back within 5 min. and literally saved my life, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

My surgeon on the other hand was waaaaaaaay too lax. He just didn't seem to care about me @ all. When I had my thymectomy and was in a LOT of pain, he simply said "Don't worry hon. I'll end you home with lots of pain pills". What a joke.

Given my choice, I'd much rather have an overzealous doc than one who just doesn't seem to care.....................