Cardiologist- Dr. Kumar

Has anyone had any experience with a cardiologist by the name of Dr. Kumar? I was referred to him by Dr. Wynn's office and he and his staff have been jerking me around for two months now. When I first saw him I was ten weeks away from surgery. Now I'm less then three weeks away and he still hasn't cleared me. He is the only thing holding this process up and I am growing more and more frustrated by the day. Depending on who I talk to or what day I call I get different answers. First his secretary tells me everything is fine and she agrees to fax the results of my stress test to Misty and then denies that she ever told me that cause there is "something wrong" with my test. Well, Misty does have a copy of the results and they didn't come from me! The report that Misty has appears to show a "negative" result so I don't understand what the big deal is. Yesterday morning I ws told the doctor would call me back--I'm still waiting which doesn't surprise me cause I previously had to leave four messages over the course of one month before he returned my call the last time . Trying to get a return phone call from this doctor is like pulling teeth. I honestly think I'd have better luck reaching the president! I have never had to deal with su*****ompetence. Any suggestions?

Hi Gwen, I am sorry you are having a hard time, I had him but I already had a stress test done a couple months before so he just looked at it and read my ekg results and told me I was clear. Maybe you need to go to the office in person, and let them tell you to your face what is going on. Take care and good luck with it. Dana

Hi Gwen, Sorry to hear that you are getting the runaround. I too, had seen Dr. Kumar. I can't really say that i had any problems with him. The only thing that concerned me is that he scheduled me for a stress test and told me that he will look for everything in that test, he also said that if he found anything that wasn't accurate, he wouldn't clear me. Needless to say, i'm thinking of this the entire time i'm having my test.....probably making my stress level soar!! Anyway, the doctor that i saw during my test (it wasn't Dr. Kumar) monitored my test as i was on the treadmill and said that everything looked fine. On my follow up with Dr. Kumar he told me the saem thing and had finally cleared me. Looking back, he was one of my last clearances and i've had a few follow up's with him before clearance. As you can probably tell, I am glad that it is over and I am now waiting to have my surgery. I truly hope that you find your answers soon and get this off of your mind. Good luck on your journey. -Joe-

Gwen, Sorry to hear about your struggles. I too had Dr Kumar. He was an excellent cardiologist. My test came back negative and he would not clear me until we had further testing. I had to go to Christinana and have an angio done. Dr Kumar was very concerned and tried to get me tested right away to make sure my date was not unnecessarily delayed. He personally took me back up front and then demanded that his office staff get everything in order right away. Perhaps they don't realize you are up against a surgery date? I like the idea of going in person and trying to talk with him. I think it may help. I do know that at first I was a little upset that I had to go for even further testing. But now I truly see the wisdom in that. I feel much better knowing that they took every little precaution with me as this is a serious surgery and they want to make sure we have everything possible on our side and they do their best to minimize the possiblity of something unexpected happening during or right after our surgeries. BTW - my angio showed a healthy heart and my surgery was not delayed. I hope you have the same outcome. Wishing you the very best! Tammy

Gwen, like Tammy I too had a "Negative" stress test result - in this case negative does not mean nothing wrong - rather negative I did not pass the stress test. In my situation they were right on top of getting me back into see Dr. Kumar a 2nd time so he could explain my negative results. In my case there was a blockage showing over my heart which did not allow them to get a clear picture and he therefore could not clear me for surgery. This is not completely unusual in obese patients. I had to go to Christiana for a Heart Catheterization to not only get clearance for my gastric bypass - but my primary doctor told me after a negative result like that my insurance company was not likely to approve me for much of anything until I rulled out a heart condition. It was not the most pleasant experience but happily the memory is starting to fade. I did find Dr. Kumar himself to be extremely competant and professional. Perhaps you need to request to speak to the office manager and get to the bottom of what is really going on here? After my heart cath, Dr. Kumar knew right away that I was fine but I did have to call the office 1 time after that requesting that they fax a notice of clearence over to Dr. Wynn. Hope this helps & best of luck. ~Kathy V.

Thanks Kathy--that sure would explain things! I wish he/his secretary would have told me that.. Personally, I couldn't believe his secretary actually read the results to me over the phone but what do I know. I certainly would want to know if there is anything wrong and if that means postponing things so be it. I'm still a little bitter about the fact that they can schedule a test in two days but two months after my first visit i'm still waiting. Lack of communication I guess. Oh well, water over the dam. Need to move forward. Thanks again for you info. It helps!