Mary | Huntington, New York

When Mary woke up one morning with agonizing pain, she knew she needed help immediately. At the emergency room (ER) of her local hospital, the doctors on call believed the pain stemmed from hernias in her back. They wanted to prescribe her opioids. 

Mary disagreed that the pain was related to her hernias, and she was reluctant to take opioids. She felt that the doctors were not listening to her. 

Eventually, Mary was given pain medication she felt comfortable taking and her symptoms eased, but only after three additional hospital visits and misdiagnoses, including a recommendation for surgery to replace three vertebrae in her neck.  

After all of these disappointing experiences, Mary knew she needed to find a good primary care doctor — someone she could trust with her health and build a relationship with. A colleague referred her to Dr. C. 

Despite a long history of pain and many consultations with physicians, Dr. C was the first doctor who took the time to physically examine Mary. She had a completely different diagnosis: she explained that Mary was suffering from inflammation due to pinched nerves in her shoulder. She reassured her that she did not need surgery. Instead, she prescribed a medical massage from a physical therapist to decompress the muscle and free the nerves.  

“She was not rushing, she took the time,” said Mary. “Other doctors don’t even look at you; they are in a hurry. Dr. C took the time to see my body and try to understand where the pain was.” 

All it took was one massage session and time with heating pads and ice, also prescribed by Dr. C, and Mary’s muscles relaxed. The spasms and cramping stopped. She continued to see Dr. C for follow-up appointments and annual check-ups. 
 

“She is always very compassionate and personable,” said Mary. “She is not worried about the 15-minute time allotment doctors are given to see patients. She is always the one to call me back or answer my emails. It’s not easy to find doctors who do everything Dr. C does.”