Got an orchiectomy with Dr Arnkoff, mixed feelings about the man himself
Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 12:48 pm
This is a modified version of the post I made in VirPed.
He only accepted cash. We looked for a currency exchange after exiting the security threshold at the Detroit airport and discovered that all such exchanges outside security were permanently closed. it was already after 5:00PM when we arrived in town that evening, meaning all the exchanges and banks in town were closed, with us being due at the clinic 8:15 the very next morning. I say this because the clinic's clerk called a few days beforehand and gave my time as being 915. When I explained this to Arnkoff and asked when we should be at the clinic, he said "an hour early", which lead me to believe that we needed to be there at 8:15. So I spent most of what should have been an evening of joyous anticipation dreading how I would get the money changed over in time, only for the anesthesiologist to call, whereupon I got the clarification that the surgery was at 10:30, and that what the clerk who called me meant was that I was due to arrive at 9:15. Ugh.
He would not accept my Canadian currency, even though my appointment was 15 minutes after the exchanges near the clinic opened. Exchanging the currency was something that would have been far simpler for him to do after the surgery than for us to do without a car within 15 minutes beforehand. This is especially jarring considering that he was surprised that my surgery was at 1030, making me wonder if he really did expect us there at 815 and didn't know the clinic wasn't open until 9, or if he simply wasn't paying attention when we were talking. My aunt and I scrambled in a high anxiety to scrounge up what little cash the two exchanges had available during the first thing in the morning. We had to go to both places to get enough because it was so early and they empty their vaults the previous night for insurance reasons.
I don't normally flog off responsibilities on other people, but a doctor who is so adamant about not having a paper trail that he wouldn't do a patient that kindness under those unexpected circumstances is just bizarre. This really was 20 units of misery for us, 2 units of inconvenience for him.
When I met him in person, he seemed like he was on his last two weeks at a job he wasn't passionate about and had almost completely checked out. He did not give me any information on how to care for the wound when I texted him afterwards. https://ibb.co/sWRXQ2F The discharge paper that I mentioned in the linked text conversation had Yes/No options for fields of hygiene like "Shower", "Bath", "Shampoo", "Sponge bath". This discharge paper also lacked Dr Arnkoff's signature on the field Physician's Signature.
By contrast, the nursing staff and anesthesiologist were very kind and supportive; the latter (who is the father of a transwoman) even personally thanked me for paying for the surgery myself instead of getting it for free in Canada by screwing the system by pretending to be transgender. He spent more time with my aunt in the waiting room than Dr Arnkoff did. Indeed, Dr Arnkoff sat next to my aunt in the waiting room for about a minute to remark that his next patient was an hour away, and that he was leaving. I only say this because he definitely wasn't strapped for time when he insisted on us getting the currency changed over before the appointment. The nurse was apologetic to my aunt for the lack of information on the discharge paper, but was legally prevented from giving advice because it technically wasn't the BCSI's procedure. I think most of them knew why I was there.
The sad thing is that my experience with Dr Arnkoff was still the best experience with a medical professional regarding this problem thus far. Almost every other health care worker I saw did an excellent, professional job of denying me the interventions I needed; Dr Arnkoff did a limp, unprofessional job of actually providing me the intervention I needed most of all. I'll take the latter over the former any day of the week.
He only accepted cash. We looked for a currency exchange after exiting the security threshold at the Detroit airport and discovered that all such exchanges outside security were permanently closed. it was already after 5:00PM when we arrived in town that evening, meaning all the exchanges and banks in town were closed, with us being due at the clinic 8:15 the very next morning. I say this because the clinic's clerk called a few days beforehand and gave my time as being 915. When I explained this to Arnkoff and asked when we should be at the clinic, he said "an hour early", which lead me to believe that we needed to be there at 8:15. So I spent most of what should have been an evening of joyous anticipation dreading how I would get the money changed over in time, only for the anesthesiologist to call, whereupon I got the clarification that the surgery was at 10:30, and that what the clerk who called me meant was that I was due to arrive at 9:15. Ugh.
He would not accept my Canadian currency, even though my appointment was 15 minutes after the exchanges near the clinic opened. Exchanging the currency was something that would have been far simpler for him to do after the surgery than for us to do without a car within 15 minutes beforehand. This is especially jarring considering that he was surprised that my surgery was at 1030, making me wonder if he really did expect us there at 815 and didn't know the clinic wasn't open until 9, or if he simply wasn't paying attention when we were talking. My aunt and I scrambled in a high anxiety to scrounge up what little cash the two exchanges had available during the first thing in the morning. We had to go to both places to get enough because it was so early and they empty their vaults the previous night for insurance reasons.
I don't normally flog off responsibilities on other people, but a doctor who is so adamant about not having a paper trail that he wouldn't do a patient that kindness under those unexpected circumstances is just bizarre. This really was 20 units of misery for us, 2 units of inconvenience for him.
When I met him in person, he seemed like he was on his last two weeks at a job he wasn't passionate about and had almost completely checked out. He did not give me any information on how to care for the wound when I texted him afterwards. https://ibb.co/sWRXQ2F The discharge paper that I mentioned in the linked text conversation had Yes/No options for fields of hygiene like "Shower", "Bath", "Shampoo", "Sponge bath". This discharge paper also lacked Dr Arnkoff's signature on the field Physician's Signature.
By contrast, the nursing staff and anesthesiologist were very kind and supportive; the latter (who is the father of a transwoman) even personally thanked me for paying for the surgery myself instead of getting it for free in Canada by screwing the system by pretending to be transgender. He spent more time with my aunt in the waiting room than Dr Arnkoff did. Indeed, Dr Arnkoff sat next to my aunt in the waiting room for about a minute to remark that his next patient was an hour away, and that he was leaving. I only say this because he definitely wasn't strapped for time when he insisted on us getting the currency changed over before the appointment. The nurse was apologetic to my aunt for the lack of information on the discharge paper, but was legally prevented from giving advice because it technically wasn't the BCSI's procedure. I think most of them knew why I was there.
The sad thing is that my experience with Dr Arnkoff was still the best experience with a medical professional regarding this problem thus far. Almost every other health care worker I saw did an excellent, professional job of denying me the interventions I needed; Dr Arnkoff did a limp, unprofessional job of actually providing me the intervention I needed most of all. I'll take the latter over the former any day of the week.