Just a little something on my mind

Chunky, Actually the recommendations I got for Dr. Blackstone did come from people who worked in the medical field. And they raved about her. I am not talking that my doctor recommended her. I am talking that people I know , friends and relatives, that work in the hospital recommended her. I am confident that a relative that heard any bad news about her wouldn't have recommended her to me. I have friends that were treated by her and had complications and they were upset with the way she "Dealt" with them. However knowing those people personally, and knowing the truth to what they were doing and how they were doing it showed me there was absolutely 2 sides to the story. One of them in particular continued to land in the hospital because she refused to stop eating the foods she was told not to, and not taking care of her mental health as she should. Of course Dr. Blackstone told her how it was on the 5th hospital visit. Since then the girl has refused to go back to her office, and completely blames her (the Doctor) for all of her complications and everything that went wrong. She still continues to eat fast food each day and has done no counseling for her mental health and thinks that is perfectly fine and that she is deiting. And we all know that mental health can cause real and horrible physical problems. Look at what stress alone does to the heart! Imagine what deep imbedded emotional issues could do to your body. Some people can't handle tough love. They want to be coddled and enabled. Dr. Blackstone doesn't do that. I commend her for it. I am not saying that she can't be wrong. And that she can't try to have a softer manner for those people that can't handle her honesty. However had I listened to just my friends side I would be against Dr. Blackstone. There is always more to the story then we know if you dig. And there is always another side of the story. I have butt heads with her on some things but in the end worked through it. I have read your post about your Dr. in Mexico And I commend you for your choice. I would leave the country to have work done, and might just do that when it comes to my plastic surgery if and when I need that. There are places in the world that do it for much cheaper, the nursing staff treat you like royalty, and the doctors are just as skilled. I have to do more research of course, but absolutely I am considering it.

Melissa... I understand what you are saying and I fully agree with you that there are two sides to every story. I'm talking about patients that have had problems. Clearly, I can't go into a great deal of detail but one that comes to mind will be on AHCCCS and TPNS for the rest of his life. It was an "oups" on the part of a doc. Nothing in the world the patient could have done to cause that. Sometimes too much intestine is removed, sometimes it is another issue. I realize you had a positive experience and I'm thrilled about that. But as you write, there are two sides to every story and that includes the down sides to docs. No way around that, Melissa. No doc is perfect and I don't expect them to be perfect. I *do* expect them to own up to an error and do whatever is necessary to fix that error. Now I don't believe that is asking too much. :o/ Yet for some docs that apparently is asking too much.

Chunky. I understand what you are saying. And I agree with you about the two sides. I am sure she isn't perfect and I am sure she has screwed up. Trust me I have been in enough Dr. Offices over the past years with so many family and friends dieing of cancer and other ailments to see Dr. Completely change their story. For example.. "oh I don't think you have cancer.. I think you have valley fever." A month later "I knew it was cancer and not valley fever" HUH?>??? LOL. And that is not just one doctor. They all change their stories, they are all full of themselves, and they all rewrite history. It is like you said Human Nature. As always I appreciate your honest and open opinions, and truly appreciate and respect the fact that you are respectful of mine also.

I agree with everything you have written! Every doc screws up. Sometimes it is due to a lack of experience, sometimes they are simply not careful, and sometimes they are just stupid. It comes with being human. Changing stories? OMG! How true that is! I swear they have a big old caste iron skillet they cover their collective behinds with! And no, I am not referring to one specific doc, I'm referring to ALL of them. Nurses too! You should see the hospital medical records that I have seen after they were changed. One hospital in Phoenix is notorious for doing just that. I don't think most docs would do that, but there is one hospital that does it and they don't even try to hide it. I'm not sure if this is always a good thing or always a bad thing but one issue about Mexican docs is that legally, you can't sue them. It is against the law in Mexico for a non citizen to sue a Mexican doc if the care was performed in their country. We tend to be verrry sue-happy in the US and Mexico wants no part of it. So what does that mean? Does that mean that docs have less to hide in Mexico and they are more willing to own up to an error or that they have less to worry about when operating on a US patient? LOL Funny thing about Mexico vs. the US. Most docs there have never been sued. Most docs here have been. It does not mean the docs that have been sued here did anything wrong, many times they most certainly did not do anything wrong. But people see easy money, lawyers have to make a living, and people are sued for stupid petty issues. No so in Mexico. It is perfectly acceptable for a Mexican citizen to sue a Mexican doc... yet they don't. Makes me wonder why. Either Mexican docs don't screw up as much as US docs, or we have a problem with sue happy people in the US. ;o) Look at how many people (not on the AZ board but the OH lapband board) jump to lawsuits. One person's band was too tight after a fill. She simply needed an unfill. Two people jumped in and suggested she sue the doc that did the fill. ?????? WHAT?? There was no slipped band, there were no complications, her darn band was too tight. That's all! I do respect your opinions. Just because I don't always agree with people does not mean I don't respect their opinions or their right to have them. I've told you privately something I will repeat here and now. You are one of my favorite posters on the AZ boards because you are so sweet, you are just a very nice person. You voice your opinion and leave it at that. Very cool. You are able to agree to disagree. I just think that attitude is growing more and more rare in our culture thus, you deserve to hear it (read??) again. ;o)

Thank you and likewise Medic. Besides the occasional debate is good for the mind , as long as like you said you can agree to disagree and still have respect for others

Meant thank you RN in that earlier post. Was just reading the post and realized I mistyped that. I agree with you RN and think the same of you Actually think the same of several of you here. Lots of you are fun to talk with and great to debate. I love the open communication and willingness to hear everyone out. Nicole?? What scrapbooking site is that??? TO Funny. What do they fight over who is better heidi swapp or heidi grace? I can't imagine what you could fight about in scrapbooking. LOL.