SASpine

I went in for a surgical consultation, as my doctor referred me to Dr. Cyr. I've got 3 kids with special needs and can't risk paralysis because there is no one else to take care of them, so I needed someone good. I got there 15 minutes prior to my appointment. I sat and waited after filling out my forms for about 45 minutes. It was long enough to watch the waiting room video play through at least once. The videos were of Dr. Cyr's wife's skin care line, of his nutrition program, and then, finally about him, him saying what an amazing doctor he is, lots of happy customer testimonies, including one from his wife who said he prays over each patient before surgery. Great. Wonderful. Lots of doctors are picking up "side gigs" so to speak, since ACA. In one of the videos, he sang praises about his PA's. I finally went back and they took my blood pressure, got my height and weight, took some X-rays (X-ray tech was wonderful). My blood pressure was very elevated. (It was a bad pain day to begin with, and sitting/standing in the waiting area for 45 minutes did not help that fact. The PA finally comes in, starts asking about my history. And come on, I've been in a BAD car accident more than two years ago by this point. That is how my back is so screwed up and I'm not even 40 yet, but unable to do even daily living activities. Well, the PA came to a screeching halt as soon as he heard "car accident" and then asked if I had ever litigated. Well, yes, I had. The next thing I know, the PA walks out of the room and the office manager walks in, wanting to know why I didn't inform them I was involved in a lawsuit. They won't see you if you have ever been involved in any sort of litigation for your injuries, past or present. I said I'm not here for your help with a lawsuit, I'm here for a surgical consult (a second opinion, really) and I was referred to you by my doctor because you can't even touch my back without causing me severe pain and I've been nursing and couldn't have surgery until the baby was weaned anyway but the other surgeon's treatment plan (to cut me from the base of my skull all the way to my tailbone) terrified me. Meanwhile, they came back in to check my blood pressure again, which had gone even higher (as did my pain level because I was at the hour and a half mark of either sitting or standing). The PA finally comes back in the room, apologizes for misunderstanding that I wasn't there for a legal case surgical consult (I guess??) but that he wanted me to start on physical therapy before trying surgery. At that point, it was very late, my babysitter had already stayed an extra hour, and inside I was just groaning because if he had listened to me at all when I gave that history, I had been already doing PT for two and a half years. My doctor's referral even said as much. I was in so much pain from either standing or sitting for over two hours, waiting. I just agreed to go ahead with physical therapy and said I'd make an appointment on my way out. I guess he saw the note about my blood pressure though, because he did want to recheck that before I left. They tested it, and it was even higher. He asked about shortness of breath, etc, and that at least showed that he had some empathy for his patients and didn't want me to like have a heart attack or something, which I can appreciate. Overall, though, I felt like I had wasted my time and money (because not only did I pay for a specialty doctor's visit, but also a babysitter!). I went home and called my primary care doctor about my blood pressure, because I couldn't go to the ER for that. I'd used up all of my babysitting time for Dr. Cyr's office. When I next saw my doctor to follow up, even she was aggravated and said "What a complete waste of time! I sent you there to be evaluated by THE SURGEON." I then told her about the video (of Dr Cyr speaking) that played twice telling people to EXPECT to be waiting for about 3-4 hours each time because he's just soooo amazing. I'm sure he is an amazing surgeon. Too bad I never got to meet him.