The Podiatrist Saga. Can't make this Crap Up part 1

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This post is not medical advice. I am also being vague, for legal reasons. Theres a new specialty of law in my state which is failure to treat and we have the money and likely will pursue legal actions.

Trigger warning :I will be touching on gender discrimination in medicine, medical misogyny and other topics that may be upsetting to some.

Spicy language may be used.

I...can't make this shit up. I just... where the fuck do I start?

Let's start at 2 weeks before my appointment. My husband went to a new podiatrist My husband's issue is pretty easy, he had a sprain and some swelling. He got x rays in office, the doctor went over the x rays gave him a treatment plan including a prescription for a boot, offered pain treatment but my husband is already receiving pain care. Again for a sprained ankle.

In contrast I have been walking on torn tendons and ligaments, muscles ripped off the bone for years and I get...nothing for pain despite reporting I am in fact in severe pain.

My husband was impressed by the doctor and we decided to book my appointment for my ankle issues with this podiatrist first, knowing we would eventually need an ortho, but I wanted x rays and MRI before that. Our insurance is changing next month and we wanted to get the most benefit from our current plan and get the tests done before the change. I said to him half serious "Remember just because he teated you well doesn't mean I will get the same treatment. How many times have I seen a doctor you've seen or recommended by a man and that doctor completely ignores me?"

My husband has trauma from seeing how horrible doctors are to me. It still shocks him. This is what healthcare for women is like.

That said I was hopeful. We got to my appointment and already the office staff did not abide by the minor disability accommodations required by law that we requested in advance (all we need is a place for me to lay down or I will faint being upright too long). They did not meet those needs. I almost passed out in the waiting room like usual, then they put me in a room. My husband made arrangements in person before my appointment to get me in a room or somewhere I can be flat. He was told "no problem". The doctor's office broke the law. I was in a room 25 minutes after my appointment was supposed to start(we were told there would be a space for me when we arrived for the appointment) and waited about 40 more minutes to see a dr.
The doctor was over an hour late but at least I finally was laying down.

Side note: I pass out because blood does not flow to my brain properly when I am upright. This means my brain is deprived of oxygen and it can and does cause brain damage. It's not a minor issue. Also syncope/near syncope is terrifying and torturous and having it happen in public is even worse.

Not the best start to the encounter. The doctor came in, he was pleasant and did apologize for being so far behind that day. he looked at my foot and saw some very obvious physical findings and he ordered an x ray. He also commented about my other ankle being in rough shape too (the one I already had surgery on)

It was another 15 minutes or so for the tech to lead me to the x ray room. This is where things really went wrong.

As soon as I was done with the xray. I mean that literally, the very moment the tech and another MA kicked us out. We were ushered out like drunks at a bar at closing time.The doctor did not have time to read the xray and we were forced out (they were so far behind it was standing room only in the wait room at a podiatrist office).

Now this is unusual and a liability in the US. If xrays are done on site the doctor (or dentist) reads the x ray even if there are no findings with the patient then a treatment and /or testing plan is done. That's what this office did for my husband and my foot ankle issues are objectively worse than his.

I got no offer of pain treatment even thought he doctor acknowledged with the swelling and very large bump on my foot that I am in pain(compare that to my husband's sprained ankle). I got not treatment plan, no offer of any stability aids. No instructions of what to do between then and the MRI. I got kicked out before the doctor even read the xray.

By this time it was almost 2 hours past the time of the appointment. I was not mentally able to make rational decisions thought it felt off being thrown out. When I have a near syncope event(almost passing out) I don't think clearly for a while, sometimes days or longer. Lack of oxygen to the brain does that. My husband has his own chronic heath issues and we were both exhausted and hungry.

I figured the doctor would call later and I'd get the xrays and report in the patient portal where there is specifically a place for those things to be uploaded.

2 business days go by and nothing. My husband calls the dr office and the person on the phone said the x rays must be normal and that's why the dr didn't say anything before we left. My husband repeated twice that the doctor didn't even look at the x rays and we were forced to leave. Then the person on the phone said it was unusual but the dr won't go over that information on the phone, as it's not billable.

It was their fuck up. I am not going back , paying more money because they did not do their job. We were then told that since the dr did not in fact go over the xray during the appointment , he would call this one time.

That was 3 weeks ago. There was no call.

The following week my husband went back to the office filing an official record release so we could have a record and also it's necessary for insurance to get the MRI. He was told it would be ready in 2 business days. He goes back and no records, no sign of anything.

Still no sign of the xray or report in the patient portal.

My personal opinion- they lost the xrays. Side note: There is no way my xrays are normal/no findings. I know that for a fact because I have a crooked toe and a bony growth. This is not normal.

The person on the phone lied.

There's a part two of the story. I will post that in a day or so. It somehow gets worse.

Strange how yet again my husband for a much more mild/easier case is treated like gold and I am not even given the most basic standard of care. In fact not going over the xray is a huge liability, not to mention them not being ADA compliant. I was given no instructions about compression, weight bearing..nothing. This is the standard of care for women. In that we are ignored at best.

To recap- They refused to comply with the ADA after we made arrangements before hand .They did not give the results of the xray or any treatment plan. My husband got all of these things proving that I was not given the standard of care for their practice and no attempt to make it right on their part despite us reaching out via phone and in person multiple times.

If I had the xrays and the report I I'd just move on. As of right now I can't get the MRI without the x ray . If they don't fix this in 2 days their fuck up will cost us at least $1000 because we won't be able to get it under our current insurance policy.

Stay tuned for part two where the office staff lies again and we have proof.

There is still no proof the xrays exist and there are other factors I will go over in part 2.

If you are wondering why I don't just get another xray. I am 95% home and bedbound. I can at best make one trip out of the house a month for doctor's appointment and I need to save that trip for the MRI. I can't do two trips out. Even one trip out costs me dearly. That's what makes this even worse. That one trip out to that dr I got nothing for it and all my neuro symptoms inflammation and pain are worse for weeks sometimes months. I am still not recovered from that trip out.

The only difference this time around is we have money now. More than enough to keep a lawyer on retainer.