Damn Doctors!

Austrian doctors think that they are God.  If you think American doctors are bad, you should see Austrian ones (there are only a few that I've seen that actually have compassion).  In my small town there are two doctors.  One's a rude wretch, and the other is an arrogant jackass.  I know, I've seen both of them.

The rude wretch is my old doctor.  She was consistently rude to all of her patients, and had a voice like nails on a chalkboard.  Even my Mom, who was here in June/July thought she was horrible.  My husband went to see her after he was bitten twice by a dog on his mail route.  She treated him for him wounds, but he also needed to have his ear checked (infection), and she refused to treat him until he brought the dog's vaccination record to her.  I went to see her the next day for something else entirely, and spoke with her about her behavior towards my husband, and in the middle of speaking to her, she said that she is required to have the records, and walked out of the office!  I was flabbergasted!!  I was being polite and she walked out of the damn office.  I still can't believe she did that.

I went to the front desk and told the receptionist ""Frau Doctoren ist nicht nett. Sie ist immer ihren Patienten grob, und ich habe genug gehabt! Ich bin dabei, zu einem anderen Arzt zu gehen, als mein Mann zukünftig ist."  Which loosely translated means that the doctor is not nice, and she is very rude to her patients.  My husband and I will go to another doctor.  I then had it explained to me that we could not change our doctor for another 2 months, as according to the social insurance, one may only change their doctor once every three months.  I told her I didn't care, and we wouldn't be coming back there.

I received a call later that afternoon from the receptionist saying that she cleared it through the insurance that we could go ahead and change doctors now.  I have a strong suspicion that this is not the first time she has had to do this.

Next we tried the arrogant jackass.  This doctor is really does think he's God.  He never listens to us, me especially, when we tell him our needs.  He just goes ahead with what he wants to do.  This is all well and good up to a point, but when it comes to something as life threatening as Bronchitis is to someone with Asthma, he doesn't do anything correctly.

I went to see him the 2nd of October when I contracted Bronchitis.  Now, please understand that I know exactly what to do when I have Bronchitis, as I have gotten it at least twice a year for the last 21 years.  I went to see the a.j. and explained that I needed Zithromax, Prednisone and a Cortisone inhaler , and he refused to give it to me.  I explained that I get this Bronchitis a lot and this is the only method that will get me healthy very quickly.  He still refused.  I went home frustrated because I knew I was going to get worse... and I did.  It got to the point where I could barely breathe, so I went back to him the following week.  This time he gave me an antibiotic, but not the one I asked for, but would not give me the inhaler, or Prednisone.  I went home again, and almost ended up in the hospital that night when I couldn't catch my breath.  I asked my husband to get me the medicine chest and I dug through it, and at the very bottom were exactly what I needed... I had some left over from the last time I had Bronchitis!!!  What luck!  I started myself on the regime that is the tried and true method, but since I had to go so long without being properly treated, I ended up sick for 4.5 weeks!

The other major problem that I have with a.j. is that he will not listen to me when I tell him what medications I need.  I finally had to go to a specialist and get her to write a letter to him telling him exactly what I needed.  I went to see a.j. again today for prescriptions, and he found the letter, and still refused to give me what I needed!  I got so fed up that I stood up in his office and threw my arms into the air and ranted at him.  He did not like that at all, and conceded to give me almost everything I needed.

I also told him that I would need a letter for him in bother German and English stating that I am must carry my injections (I am being treated for Melanoma) on the flight.  He said "No!  Only in German!  The security in America must be able to read a language that is not their own!" Oh for Pete's sake!!  I took a deep breath (to keep myself from lunging over his desk and throttling him) and asked if my husband translated the letter, would he print it out on his stationary.  Miracle of miracles, he agreed to it.

As I was walking out of his office, he stopped Me and told me off (loudly) that all Americans think that the rest of the world revolves around them, and that they don't see that there are Chinese, German, Italian (blah, blah, blah) that don't speak English, and they need to learn other languages.  That Americans only think of themselves.  I smiled politely at him and said "It's not just some Americans who think of only themselves, but some Austrians did too,"and gave him a very pointed look.  I then walked out of his office

As I was leaving the building I walked back to the receptionist desk and told her that I forgot to ask for a medication I needed, and she printed off the prescription and signed it (they can do that here is Austria).

I then left the office, walked to my car, called my husband and cried out of sheer, bloody frustration.  I guess I'm just lucky to find a doctor that is anti-American.  Needless to say, I am going to see a new doctor and tell this one to blow it out his arrogant ass.

It's obvious that if you want a good doctor here, you'd be better off seeing a Vet, as they treat their patients with respect.