A couple of months ago, I ordered food from a local caterer for a dinner I was having with my family. I ordered turkey, brisket, steamed vegetables, soup and crudité. It really was delicious.
But the next morning I woke up in pain. The food just didn’t sit well with my stomach.
As the week went on, I felt progressively worse. By Friday, I was having the chills, couldn’t focus, and felt achy all over. I left work early, went home and slept. I slept and slept and woke up Sunday morning still feeling miserable. I called the doctor who told me to go to the ER at Long Beach Memorial Hospital to get blood work drawn.
I went and ended up staying all day to find out that I had colitis as a result of food poisoning. My liver enzymes were elevated and my cat scan showed that I had colitis.
I was released shortly after getting an injection of morphine and having two bags of IV drip into my veins. Before I left, I gave the nurse a sample and asked her to make sure to give it to the lab. I knew when I left that the sample would be discarded and there would be no record of anything. And you know what, there wasn’t any record of any sample!
It amazed me that the hospital staff could be so irresponsible. But I guess that’s why Long Beach Memorial Hospital has such a bad reputation.
My family doctor told me to see a gastroenterologist. I was having such a hard time finding one. Everyone I talked to had the “guy.” Some I even called to make an appointment. When I found out that there was a three-month wait, I said forget about it!
I even called health net to see if they had a recommendation. They didn’t. They told me to call Lennox Hill, which I did except I didn’t want to go to 233rd Street in Manhattan. (I didn’t even know it got up that high!)
So I started to scour the Internet looking for the Best Gastroenterologist on Long Island and all I found was the LI Press Best of… I still looked.
I called my gynecologist who gave me the name of a doctor in Great Neck. When I hung up, I looked up his record and found him to be not patient-friendly and misdiagnosing someone.
I decided to go even though he had a few bad comments. I felt like I didn’t have much of a choice. Either I go into Manhattan, go to John Hopkins or I go to this local guy affiliated with LIJ-Northshore Hospital.
Thankfully after three weeks, I’m starting to feel better, but you know what, the Internet was right about this doctor. He doesn’t have a bedside manner.
Next time, I’ll trust the internet!
