Tag Archives: doctor

Insert title here that says I was right about a dickhead doc

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A while back I blogged about this doctor I’d seen about my knee the day after I injured it, and was pretty much shocked and upset by the service I received. Thankfully I went to another doctor and got a second opinion, which is when I found out I’d done some serious damage.

Today I was reading the local news website, upon which I saw the following:

Coast doctor cleared to practice
Sunshine Coast doctor Ian Raddatz has faced disciplinary action a second time but has not been banned from treating patients.

Link here

That was the doctor I’d seen! I was completely shocked and spun out as I read the article. Things jumped out at me, like the fact he faced disciplinary hearing for recommending unconventional diets to patients, unsolicited nutritional advice (see my issues about his seafood recommendations in my original blog post), and that he was banned from practicing altogether in 2000 for unsatisfactory conduct.

Thank GOD for gut feelings and seeing a second doctor for another opinion. Who knows what would have happened if I took the tablets he gave me, and what state my knee would be in now. I wish I had known that he was working under supervision and had faced the board previously – I sure as hell wouldn’t have gone to see him. I wish the Health Department had some sort of a list where people could research their doctors, view their history and if they had ever had to front the board. On the other hand, if they implemented a system like that, it could put a lot of doctors out of work who might not necessarily deserve it. Ones who had been accused of something, and not necessarily been guilty. It’s a hard call to make. If only I had googled his name I might have found the original article when he returned to practise after being banned the first time. I underestimated the power of google *grin*

At the end of the day, I think I’m just stunned and angry all over again at how unprofessional he was, and how horrible I felt after the appointment. There’s really nothing I can do, he’s already met with the board and had restrictions placed on him. I can only hope he learns his lesson, the psychiatric treatment he undertakes is successful, and at the end of the day he never, ever, diagnoses anyone incorrectly again.

The Knee Story so far

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Approximately 4th September:

Playing netball for my Thursday night Mix team, running to my left and step forward on my right leg. As I do so, I decide I need to go back to my right so twist my body to the right to go in that direction, however my right knee decides to continue going to the left, I feel a crack and fall onto my butt. Call time immediately so play is stopped.

Now it wasn’t painful, it just felt like something wasn’t right. It felt strange, and like a dull ache on the back of my knee. I was assisted off court by the guys and immediately applied ice to the back and right hand side of my knee, and the game went on without me. When I got home I continued icing it on and off for 20mins, and that night I slept with my leg elevated.

I can’t remember what week this happened, but I think the following day Mat had an RDO and came with me to the doctors. There, I was criticised and told it was just a sprain. For the full story click here.

18th September:

I had been using crutches for the first few days of my injury, but eventually tossed them away (being stubborn and all) and was just limping around on my leg. Every time it accidentally straightened, I would scream in pain. Something definitely wasn’t right. I decided I wanted a second opinion about my “so called sprained knee”, and starting hunting around for a sports doctor. The first few I tried were booked out for weeks in advance. I’m an impatient person, so I kept hunting. I finally found a sports doctor who was coincidentally working in the same practise as the a-hole I had last dealt with. I read the profile on this doctor, and he sounded OK so I decided to call up. They had a spot available so I took it.

I went and saw him, and he immediately knew something was up. The fact there was so much fluid in my knee still after 2 weeks of doing it told him something more serious had occured. I sat on the bed in his room, and he felt around my knee (made me cry a few times with the prodding) and told me he suspected I had done my ACL ligament (anterior cruciate ligament). Basically, that ligament is responsible for the stability of the knee, and pretty common for injuries. Hence the reason you’ll hear a lot of people talking about knee reconstructions for a lot of sporting stars (including myself *cough*).

He wanted to send me for an MRI scan so they could examine the ligaments in detail and find out for sure. It was then I was told that if I’d done it there would be a possibility I would need a knee reconstruction. Either way, I wasn’t going to be playing netball for a long time. That sent a shock through me as I really understood the seriousness of the situation. A knee recon? No netball? Fark.

This week – week of the 22nd September

Well this week started with the MRI scan on the Tuesday, which was quite the experience (full story here). The results from that confirmed my doctor’s suspicions, but not only had I torn my ACL ligament, I’d also managed a small tear on the meniscus – the cartilage underneath. Damn…I injured myself good! None of these stuffing around pansy injuries. I met with the physio for the first time on Wednesday and was taught a few exercises to help strengthen the muscles around the knee. He also showed me a few that would help to get the fluid moving around my knee and eventually enable me to bend and straighten my leg like normal. After 2 days I can already feel the difference, can’t wait to see what a few weeks bring.

My doctor has put through a referral on my behalf for a meeting with an orthapedic surgeon at Nambour hospital. I should be hearing from them over the next few weeks, and upon meeting with him we’ll discuss the surgery, what’s involved all that jazz. That’s when we really get down to business and plan the nitty gritty. Unfortunately I chose not to take out hospital cover when I got health insurance so everything will be handled by the public hospital system and Medicare. As I have top extras though, all my physio and rehabilitation work will be covered by my health insurance – I’ll just have to pay a small extra for my appointments. e.g. my initial consultation with the physio should have cost $80, but due to the health insurance I only had to pay $24. So grateful I have that insurance!!

I’ll keep you posted as it all progresses, detail everything of the process. Wish me luck!!

Unbelievable doctor

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Last Thursday I was unlucky enough to bust my knee during a game of Netball. I’m not sure what happened exactly, if it dislocated or not, but it felt like my knee went one way and my body went another. Long story short and two days later I am on crutches with a big puffy knee that I can’t put much pressure on.

Now I have never damaged my knee before. I have rolled my ankles countless times and maybe bent a finger or two. But nothing with the knees. To be safe I decided I would see a doctor straight away, where I would normally wait a few days with my ankles so I could tell if anything was wrong. Accordingly, I rang and booked an appointment on the Friday, the day after the incident.

Thankfully Mat was on holidays and therefore available to take me to the doc. We arrive 5 mins before the appointment and begin waiting. I started playing with my iPhone. Twenty mins after the appointment time we were so bored so I chatted to Pauline on google talk. She suggested I set up google reader next time, which was a completely valid point.

With thirty mins passed we were ropeable. We had now started playing eye spy, which I discovered I really don’t like being the person guessing. Amazingly, the patient who had been with the doc the whole time finally surfaced. The doc quickly dealt with the next two patients waiting before me, and while the last one was in there an elderly lady joined the wait.

After about 5 mins the next patient is done and the doc wanders down the hall. As he comes back without consulting the list of who was next, he beckoned the elderly lady into the room. As he closes the door we gear him say “are you Kelly?” to which I assume she says “no”. He sticks his head out, looks at Mat and I, and said “sorry won’t be long.” I was selfishly annoyed, we had been waiting for so long!

When we eventually got in I described my incident at Netball, and the wirdness began. He felt my knee and compared it with the other, then told me if I wanted to spend $300 then I could find out if I had torn any cartiledge. I asked if there was anything I should take for any pain or if panadol would be sufficient. I guess I wasn’t clear because instead he started suggesting glucosamine, and fish oil. He asked if I like mussels and when I said I didn’t like seafood was immediately hit with a gruff “why not”. I said the taste had never appealed to me, and he shrugged it off as if I was an idiot. He continue to tell me what foods I should eat, including tuna sandwiches, salmon and mussels. Thanks for the nutritional advice doc.

Next thing I knew he was telling me I shouldnt play Netball but take up swimming instead. He said it toned the hips, thighs, butt, arms, stomach etc. As he said it he just gave me these looks that made me feel so uncomfortable, it was if he was trying to point out that I have a bit of extra weight. I wish now i had just said “are you trying to say I am fat?” and see what he said. He also said Netball doesn’t tone anything. I didn’t know that was what I was playing the sport for.I thought it was because I enjoyed it? But mostly I just wanted him to look at the issue at hand!

Eventually I was pissed off and eager to get out of there. He gave me some sample anti inflammatories which I still have no intention of taking. I started agreeing with everything he said just to get out of there. Finally it was over and we left. Once outside mat confirmed he thought the guy was an asshole too, so it wasn’t just me being sensitive. I can’t believe I even had to pay for that, courtesy of the non bulk billing practise.

In summary I am not going back there ever. I did not feel at ease at all, which I would expect goes against everything a doctor would strive to achieve. I can only hope my knee gets better on it’s own. Can you tell I stewed about this doc though? I am still grumbling. And there us still no way I am eating seafood.

Latest injury – scoliosis

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spine.jpgFor a long time now I’ve been getting the odd headache and migraine, and more commonly just a really stiff neck, particular at the base of my skull. One of my new years resolutions was to go to the chiro and get this sorted out, which I’ve done *crosses it off the list*

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on the way you look at it) the Chiro determined I had a few discs in my spine out of alignment at the top of my neck (under the skull where the stiffness was), and also mild scoliosis. She sent me for xrays to be safe, and to determine exactly what was going on. Thankfully it turned out to be nowhere near as bad as the image on the wikipedia page for scoliosis although I was still going to need some treatment to help loosen up all the stiff muscles etc. A picture of my xray is on the left – imagine that what you’re seeing is meant to be straight, and you’ll immediately see the difference.

When she first did her examinations, the Chiro pressed lightly on a spot at the top of my neck which almost made me cry out in pain. She confirmed that was one of the troublesome bones. She has cracked the centre of my back where all the discs are tightened up, and also my neck to loosen it. She then used this cool contraption which she likened to “a small punch” to help push the discs into their correct position. Both times I’ve had this done now, I get a feeling of bulging eyes for about half an hour after treatment, its quite bizarre. After the first appointment, I stupidly cracked my neck by habit that night and immediately got a headache, so was pretty sure I’d put the disc out of alignment again. I had my last treatment almost 48 hours ago, and have been extremely focused on not cracking my neck. It’s amazing how much of a habit it’s become – I’ve stopped myself on at least 3 or 4 occasions today alone!

It looks like I’ll be visiting the Chiro twice a week for a while to sort out my issues. I’ve also started to take up yoga as a way to “strengthen my core”, and increase the flexibility in my spine. Hopefully all of this combined will prevent any more issues for the future, and at the same time increase my level of fitness. That will be really handy when combined with the fact the netball superleague season has just started, so hopefully I won’t be putting my back under too much pressure every game. Anyways, I’ll keep you posted on my progress to see how it all works out, but I can just say – THANK GOD FOR HEALTH INSURANCE.