Have you ever seen a doctor yell at their patient?

Yes. I was the patient, and it was a horrible situation.

I was recovering from a long battle with cancer, and my labs showed that my SED rate was high. That means your blood sedimentation is too thick - an indicator of inflammation and or infection.

My oncologist ran lots of tests, but he couldn't find the source of infection. My only symptoms were body aches and fatigue. Because this went on for months, he sent me to a rheumatologist to look for Lyme, RA, etc.

Nope. Nothing, but the rheumatologist kept worrying that I was just “another drug seeker.” I had not asked for or taken any narcotics, and you can't fake a high SED rate. He was really paranoid, though. He kept saying that he had too many patients on opioids (I wasn't one of them).

We got nowhere, so my oncologist sent me to an infectious disease specialist. He was agitated when he came in and sat down and quizzed me about my entire medical history while taking notes on a yellow pad. He kept doing this exasperated chuff after I said things.

I don't have a great health history because I was born with kidney disease, I have chronic stomach trouble, and I had a mean cancer, but I'm pretty resilient, and I tend to bounce back pretty well. It's important for docs to know my issues, but I don't really need major treatment, just careful with diet and what I put in my body. I didn't know why he was so annoyed. I tried to explain to him that my kidneys and stomach were well maintained and the chemo kicked my butt, but I knew I would recover, if we could just find the infection. I thought maybe he was overwhelmed with all the info.

He then informed me that he was taking over my care and ceasing all my meds. That was blood pressure med, acid reducer, large ibuprophen, estrogen blockers to prevent my cancer growing, and iron.

I asked if that was safe for me, and he just blew up. He shouted so much that 2 nurses came running in. He said my doctors were over-medicating me and he was concerned that I was seeking narcotics or had Munchausens and he was keeping me away from all meds and pills, “including god da* baby aspirin and Flintstones” if necessary.

I was so humiliated and I felt helpless.

Remember, I've been sick a while and am still scared that everything is more cancer (that's normal for the first couple of years after). No one can tell me what's wrong, and I've already been to another doctor who accused me of being a drug seeker. My mind was reeling. I couldn't figure out why they thought that.

I just stood there and started crying like a 10 year old. I managed to get out the words that I was leaving and he wasn't going to be my doc. I felt like everyone was staring as I went through his waiting room. I was a confused mess until I went back to my oncologist.

Now, this part is important. Please make note of this for your own good.

My oncologist was baffled by my story, but his nurse (a saint named Judy) had this wide-eyed look, and said she needed to check something.

The paranoid rheumatologist had put a note in my records that I was “a difficult patient, a narcotic seeker, and RED FLAG for Munch's,” meaning Munchausens, and the infectious disease guy took it as gospel.

Fortunately, my story has a happy ending. My infection was in my chemo port, so they removed it, Judy got the note taken out of my files, and I stay far away from those two lunatics.

The take-away here is that, although it is illegal, many doctors will make prejudicial, personal notes to other docs about patients. Nurses do it too. It can even end up in your computer file and influence an entire medical network.

It's important to be your own advocate, question strange behaviour, and occasionally demand copies of all your records. Doctors are not gods. They can be pretty shady and even mentally ill. Never assume that you have to obey them.

(Nurses, however, are saints; and chemo nurses are super heroes)