How Do Approach This with the Doctor?

I'd be mad as well. I'd wait for a few days until you have your emotions on low, then I'd call, making sure that you don't use anger in your choice of words and talk directly to your doctor...not his assistant or voice-mail.

I'd start by saying, "I've still got some concerns about my son's back, and I was able to consult a chiropractor's view on my son's x-rays, which in her opinion, gave her the impression that my son may have scolosis."

Then, confirm with him or ask him to re-look at it to either verify or back-up his claim of "normal". Then, if he confirms the scolosis diagnsis, then...ask how the diagnosis and x-ray was mis-read. He needs to explain to you what happened and why he missed it. If he deny's the claim again, ask him for a referral to get a 2nd opinion.

Keep the diangosis of your chiropractor friend out of it. I'm pretty sure that in the medical field, Chiropractors and Doctors do not have a good bridge of working together so this could cause some stress in finding out the truth...simply because your doctor may not want to admit that a chiropractor dianosed his patient better than he did. If you ask him to re-look at the x-ray, perhaps once the problem has been laid out for him, he'll see it. Either way, he could be in hot water with you...and that is not your problem. You are the advocate for your son so be proud that you at least saught help from the chiropractor and are looking into this further.

Hopefully...your doctor will see nothing...because no one should suffer from scolosis. However, you'll be back to square one looking for a solution for your son's back pain. Sort of a double edge sword I guess. Like finding the lesser of two evils.

The hard thing about medicine is that us non-medical folk are stuck trusting our Doctors because we know nothing about medicine. People are mis-diagnosed everyday and it's really difficult persueing a malpractice case...not that you want to at this point, but...it's sort of fighting a losing battle. We all need to learn to be our own advocate for our health because even Doctors don't know everything. If in your case, your doctor did mis-dianose, you could start by filing your complaint with the Board of Directors at your Doctor's hospital. Hopefully it won't need to go that far.

Good luck.

R.! I'm so sorry this happened to you & your son.... like others have said, we really are at the mercy of our medical professionals since we can't be experts ourselves. I answered your other request about your son's back pain, and I just wanted to reiterate the importance of seeing a pediatric specialist - orthopedist or neurologist. Since you live in a small town, it won't be easy, but hopefully if you talk to your primary dr. & tell him you just still aren't comfortable with the amount of pain your son is having & would like a second opinion, he'll listen. I have gotten the best response when I make it about my comfort level & "gut feeling," rather than the doctor's abilities. You also definitely should tell him that your son is seeing a chiro & she mentioned some curvature in his spine on the x-rays - his response to that will be telling, I think.

Finally, if you still feel this upset after talking to your primary doc again, don't hesitate to switch. You are your son's only advocate!

Good luck!
A.

I'd wait to confront to your primary doctor until after you get a second opinion. No rub on your friend, but unfortunately many medical professionals do not recognize chiropractic medicine as actual "medicine".

For added credibility and to strengthen your argument, I'd suggest finding a doctor whose expertise is in this area for this second opinion, and even go as far as to request an exam and a second round of x-rays.

For certain, if this second exam by a doctor familiar with spinal disorders confirms your friend's suspicions, you'd certainly have a legitimate argument to present to your doctor. Most important, you'd know for certain what next steps to take with your child's health and could even get the ball rolling on treatment.

If for some reason, your insurance requires a referral from your primary physcian, while not the ideal situation, it will as another poster mentioned, put the doctor on notice. If the doctor refuses to follow-up and refer you to another doctor more experienced in this area, you'll know to find a new doctor, and possibly even may want to consider reporting it to the state medical board and his clinic if it does turn out your son has scolosis(sp?). It seems pretty odd that he'd not tell you about it. Perhaps he even missed it. But if not, not being an malpractice attorney, I can only suspect that may be tantamount to negligence..or worse.

Once again, if you must get a referral, don't hesitate to explain to your primary doctor what you are doing, and why at that time, citing that your Chiropractor noticed the curvature on the x-rays, and recommended that you get an expert opinion.

Don't wait, I do know its important to get early intervention for the best outcomes with issues like this.

Good luck.

Hi R.! I can see why you are frustrated! I had a similar thing with my son's Dr. I went to him and said that it was my expectation that he inform me of all results in detail even if he deems them inconsequential. He agreed.
Also, let him know that you are seeking chiropractic treatment. I think it brings an accountability when they know they are not the only ones seeing to your care and well-being.
I think if you are honest and calm it will turn out very well. Your Dr. will respect you and he will have an opportunity to regain your trust. If not, then you are free to seek another Dr.
I hope all goes well with your son's treatment! I don't know what I would do without our chiropractor!

Hi R.- sounds frustating! I would just call and ask to speak to the doctor about your concern. He may have thought it was mild and just needed to be monitored..but definately should have told you that. Not to defend him, but sometimes there is a wait and see approach to scoliosis. On the other hand, I have treated kids with scoliosis (I am a physical therapist and work in pediatrics...therefore I take a very up front approach with my pediatrician) but it is often not symptomatic or painful at first which makes me a little curious if there is something else going on. Maybe even request a referral to a pediatric orthopedist who deals with this kind of matter all of the time. I would have the chiro look at the films and make sure there was not a misinterpretation...the spine has natural curves that vary at different ages but an abnormal twist is what can be concerning. Good Luck!! J.

I would be up front with your dr on how you feel and the information that you have. Also be prepared to switch dr's.

My brother is a year younger than I am, since he was an infant he has had MANY health problems. From the time he was born he couldn't keep down anything, to the point he was on jello water for feedings, then after mom took him to 3 different dr's they found even thou he wasn't throwing up he was starving.. took 3 dr's to find it. plus he had problems with his legs after braces for a couple of years and too many screaming day's of pain and blisters they found it was actually his back that was the problem. mom finally found a dr when he was around 10 that found all of his problems... both is kidneys are joined into one, in 3 different spots (neck, middle back and lower back) 3 vertabrae's are fused together, his knee joint the tendens were too loose, problems with his stomach.. the list goes on... when my brother was 20 only a couple of months before his wedding he went to the dr and they said nothing was wrong other than a pinched nerve to explain why he was throwing up horrible again lost the feelings in his finger tips and toes and the tingling up his arms. mom finally took him to our chiro. and he did x-rays and found that the base of his skull was actually being pulled down over his spine and that was causing the problems. after many talks between my brother,mom and this dr (that mom has trusted for a long time) and this dr and the chiro. the dr still felt stong that nothing was wrong and it wasn't serious. finally the chiro (the dr refused to do so) sent my brother to a nuro surgen and had him looked at. the nuro surgen said he has never seen a case this severe before. two months after my brothers wedding he went in and had the lower half of his skull removed and replaced with muscles from his leg all of his problems went away, he can eat and is a healthy weight for the first time in his life, he no longer has the problems with his hands and arms and toes. Both the nuro surgen and the chiro take my brothers x-rays and case and teaches others about his "story" across the US and to this day the other dr see's nothing wrong and they over reacted.
My point is that your dr may truely believe that its "nothing". Get a second or third oppinion until you feel in your heart that your happy with what you are finding out. As much as I'm not a huge fan of dr's ( I have had my own rounds with them over my son who is blind in one eye) they are only human and thier teachings and knowlege also only goes so far.. find one that will listen and knows what they are doing and seeing, so you can have your son go on happy and with out any problems that could affect him in his future.

Once you calm down I would have a discus with your doctor saying that you would like a 2nd opinion from your family doc on the x-rays. I would also have the doctor take his time in explain why or why not there is no signor sign of scoliosis. I know doctors are busy but you are paying them to get information from them... inform yourself a bit on scoliosis so you can keep asking questions (maybe your chiropractor can help you put a list of questions together). Here is a basic website to get you started http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoliosis .

If your family doc it not meeting your need for clarity/information then I would get a 2nd opinion from another doc who might be more specialized in back problems (not a chiropractor). This will help level the field so it is not a chiropractor's word against you family doctor's word... plus with a 2nd doc's opinion you will hopefully get a clear answer one way or another.

Be up front with your current doctor but do not get angry because that will but the doctor on defense instead of wanted to help you. From little that I have read if he has scoliosis a chiropractor can help but if it is a server deformity then a good doctor with experience surgically with this issue would be helpfully.