Austin Gastroenterology

The first visit to this doctor was a pretty informative one. We went over CT scan results and scheduled a double endoscopy. During the double procedure they removed a tumor from my stomach. They also discovered at that time an abnormal growth and needed to schedule a follow-up endoscopic ultrasound for further testing with a "specialist" from their practice. The day prior to this specialist procedure I received a phone call to make sure that I was ready for the procedure. During a recap I was informed of which hospital to go to. The morning of the procedure I arrived at the hospital specified with no record of me or the doctor being there. After 45 minutes of chaos a hospital volunteer discovered that I was at the wrong hospital. When I arrived at the correct hospital I was sedated without even talking with the doctor, and when I woke up he had spoken to my husband and was gone. I was told that the office would have the results within a week. One month later, after no word from them, I called and found out that the 'tissue sample they took was not enough to do a testing on, inconclusive' and I would have to reschedule. In the meantime, my prescriptions ran out and despite the pharmacy and myself contacting them directly - they would not authorize a renewal. So now I am back at square one (minus several thousands of $$ - because everything is paid out of pocket - no insurance).

On my pre-procedure visit, he looked at my personal history form that I filled out and said: "there's a lot going on here." Then he asked me about my family history and if I knew what a colonoscopy was, when I replied, yes, he said: "good, then we are through." He spent a total of 10 minutes with me. It was almost 2 months before I got my procedure. Then at the follow-up visit he was again very brief and spent about 15 minutes with me. I had actually gotten my diagnosis from the nurse on the phone previous to it. He didn't even mention that I had a condition that causes a decrease in B12 absorption in the stomach. I am a vegetarian, 95% vegan. I can't afford to lose any B12 from my diet. Further, I have carpal tunnel syndrome as I work behind a computer all day. I was taking chronic NSAIDS and became very sick so I stopped taking them. He told me it was okay to take NSAIDS with omeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor. This medication can exacerbate allergies, which I have. It also decreased your liver's ability to rid medication from your system causing toxicity buildup.

In my opinion, he is not very concerned with his patients at all. Most doctors just want to push pharmaceuticals on you because they make huge commissions and also the expensive procedures that they perform. Does it really take a team of 7-8 people to perform a colonoscopy? I am a college educated person and if I hadn't done my homework, I would be at the mercy of these money-hungry doctors who care only about profits and not their patients' wellbeing.