Life Changing Stories
Dab's Story
In 2005 Dab Napthine had been having a series of bizarre symptoms. On getting up in the morning, her eyesight was only about 30% for the first 20 minutes; when she was driving, the left side of her body would go numb; and she had serious short term memory loss. Her doctor told her it was stress and that she should be on medication.
When in WalMart one day in June, she used their pharmacy’s blood pressure cuff and got a reading of 90 over 60. She spoke with the pharmacist who suggested she change doctors. Dab took this advice and saw her husband’s physician who sent her for a CT scan of her brain.
The scan revealed a cyst in her brain that was preventing the flow of spinal fluid down her spine. Within 27 days Dab underwent a nine-hour brain surgery to remove the cyst which had grown considerably and had wrapped around a blood vessel.
“I was a 5’2” vegetarian who weighed 115 lbs. when I underwent surgery. Three days after surgery I began to gain weight at a rate of 10 lbs. a week, getting up to 185 lbs. My Neurologist explained this was part of the aging process. My family doctor checked me for pregnancy. The pregnancy test showed microscopic blood in my urine. Two weeks later my kidneys began to hurt and my bladder became paralyzed. An ultrasound on my bladder seemed to break up the calcification because I then began to urinate. I was also experiencing a lot of other symptoms such as a sensation of being ‘disconnected’, of floating, and I had serious vertigo. I continued to be told that everything was due to the brain surgery so I turned to a Homeopath for help.
“After a while, you just stop asking for help because you are made to feel you are crazy. The pains in my heels and legs made me want to cry when I got out of bed. My doctor just shrugged and said he didn’t know what it was. Lumps were forming under my skin and again my doctor said he didn’t know what was causing this. My breasts grew from 32A to 36B in ten weeks. After an initial mammogram I was told to return for another test. Instead, because we were covered for it through our insurance company, I arranged infrared imaging at a private clinic in town. The results were normal. When I kept getting sicker and weaker my treating Neurologist wanted another CT scan but I refused. I had decided to just let a tumour kill me.
Instead, Dab called Best Doctors
“All this had been taking place over two years and I had given up hope when my husband brought home a brochure he had been given by his company describing a new employee benefit called Best Doctors. To learn more about what the service covered, we Googled Best Doctors on the Internet, then made the initial call. Micheline, a Registered Nurse at Best Doctors, became my Member Advocate. I told her what had been happening to me. She gathered all my medical files from my physicians and hospitals and sent them to a team of Harvard-trained Best Doctors specialists who would review my files and answer the questions I had about my diagnosis and treatment.
“Recognizing that I am a vegetarian and a Buddhist, the initial report from Best Doctors suggested meditative practices and yoga that would facilitate homeopathic healing and integral chakra balancing. I began to follow these recommendations.
“The final report from a Best Doctors Neurologist in Texas explained the psychological effects of, and the brain’s reaction to, brain surgery; that the sense of being dislocated was a normal process and would pass. He also explained how to deal with vertigo through chiropractic therapy.
HOW BEST DOCTORS HELPED
“Not only did Best Doctors address my concerns, but they actually gave me answers to my questions without ridiculing me. When the Best Doctors specialist reviewed my x-rays from two years prior he saw spots I hadn’t been told about by my own physicians. The Best Doctors specialist diagnosed Sarcoidosis, an autoimmune disease. When I questioned my doctors about this finding, they told me they believed steroids, the treatment for this disease, were nasty drugs, so they didn’t tell me about it. How can you take steps to make decisions about your care and improve your health when you aren’t given a proper diagnosis, or provided all the information you need to do so? Without it, you won’t know what is wrong.
“Best Doctors validated my symptoms, provided me with health care options and suggested several lifestyle changes which I implemented and which have already helped. My husband and I were so impressed with the level of professionalism of everyone who dealt with us at Best Doctors. Micheline impressed me by accepting what I was saying and she was very clear about what Best Doctors could accomplish. I had a real sense that Best Doctors really cared – it was in their follow up, their concern expressed in the written reports, and in Micheline’s voice when we spoke. I was talking to someone who was actually listening. Not once did she make me feel I was being irrational. She was sincere, she cared, and if she was here, I would give her a hug!
“For the first time in four years, my body functions are normal and I am pain free. It’s incredible and wonderful; I had forgotten what it was like to actually want to do things like go for a walk! Best Doctors have, in the most serendipitous way, improved my quality of life to the point where I would now fight a recurrence of a brain cyst, whereas, before, I was ready to give up. I would also like to thank Best Doctors for giving me the chance to tell my story. I hope everyone that reads this will realize that Best Doctors is one of their best options in Canada.”