WHY CAN'T I GET A RESPONSE BACK FROM DR. K?

[Phasmid]

I am really frustrated tonight, and I'm probably breaking a forum rule, but WHY IS IT THAT EVERYONE ELSE GETS AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE FROM DR. K. BUT I HAVE YET TO HEAR BACK FROM HIM?? I have sent multiple messages by email, crossing my t's, dotting my i's, all the stuff he asks for in an email, before I get to the next step of actually being granted an appointment?? What am I doing wrong? Not saying the magic word???

[Iowadawn]

I am really frustrated tonight, and I'm probably breaking a forum rule, but WHY IS IT THAT EVERYONE ELSE GETS AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE FROM DR. K. BUT I HAVE YET TO HEAR BACK FROM HIM?? I have sent multiple messages by email, crossing my t's, dotting my i's, all the stuff he asks for in an email, before I get to the next step of actually being granted an appointment?? What am I doing wrong? Not saying the magic word???

 

I'll take a stab. First, not everyone gets an immediate response. This is from experience and from others I am in touch with who are patients. He says he wakes up to about 45 emails (I'm guessing PANDAS) a morning. Are you technically a patient? Is it an appt you need? If he has already seen you I think he replies faster--but from experience, not every email I've sent has gotten answered or replied to. If you need an appt. just call the office & get one set up. I don't think he grants appts., per se. Has he stated that your child could/should be seen by him?

 

He is out of the country quite frequently, and sometimes that's when emails get missed, or I'm guessing triaged when he returns.

 

Keep your emails to the point. Try not to put multiple requests or questions in the same email. Or, better put, don't ask anymore than you really need to.

 

Just some thoughts. His PANDAS clientele has exploded and keeping up has gotten tougher for him.

 

Dawn

[EAMom]

I would agree that for a busy person, short and to the point is best. My dd's teacher is like that. If you send him a long e-mail with lots of intricacies, it's much less likely to be answered than a shorter one.

[memom]

He has been out of town for a couple of weeks. I imagine he is backed up on getting answers to his emails. It took about 2-3 weeks for me to get an answer recently. He is back in town now.

 

Ellie

[thereishope]

Have you called to make the appt? His assistant would book that, not him. I say get the date secured now as you wait for a response from him.

[sf_mom]

Concur, He only arrived back from Europe on Tuesday. Call the office make an appointment for consultation... RESEND E-MAIL with history explaining you've already sent and scheduling a consultation. ASK if there is anything else you should provide for consultation.

 

He is slow to respond if out of town but always very good when he is in town.

 

-Wendy

[T_Mom]

We had an appointment phone consult with him and he was prompt, on time, and very helpful.

I had called the office to make the appt. with the receptionist (2 years ago.)

 

I have never known a doctor that is willing to email back and forth unless you are an established patient and they have indicated that they are willing to do so.

 

I hope you are able to arrange a phone consult next week. All the best--

[MomWithOCDSon]

We saw Dr. K. in his office on Thursday. This was the first time we'd met him, and I have to say, all the positive reports about him appear 100% true. He was great with DS, great with us, a really good listener, a really good explainer, and excellent at "tweaking out" DS's symptom set.

 

I had first reached out to him in October 2009 via email, to which he promptly responded; my email had been very short, though (a total of three sentences), and his response was equally brief. Amazingly enough, HE HAD HELD ON TO THAT EMAIL and matched it with my DS's file when I finally called his receptionist and scheduled our appointment just this past April!

 

Therefore, from all appearances, he is thorough and responsive, but clearly very busy.

[Phasmid]

Thanks! I actually started emailing him (per his office assist. instructions to do so first before I could schedule an appt.) back in February! None of my messages were answered! His asst. told me that I must make contact with him directly before she could schedule a phone consult. I resent. I resent again. Then in March I gave up and called another doc. I have tried short messages, long messages, and messages in between. Now I have been abandoned, it appears (after having been dx, and started on antibiotics, and having labs re-ordered), by the other doc, and from some private messages I received, so have others? I will call Dr. K's office on Monday and just ask for an OFFICE VISIT appointment and fly my boy out there I guess.

 

 

 

 

Concur, He only arrived back from Europe on Tuesday. Call the office make an appointment for consultation... RESEND E-MAIL with history explaining you've already sent and scheduling a consultation. ASK if there is anything else you should provide for consultation.

 

He is slow to respond if out of town but always very good when he is in town.

 

-Wendy

[MomWithOCDSon]

Is it possible, also, that your emails are never being received? Have you tried asking his receptionist/assistant if she can view any of your emails on the office's end? Frankly, this just sounds out of character for Dr. K.'s overall practice.

 

But I know that, on occassion, one web/email service provider will "block out" anything coming from another provider (like "earthlink") if there have been incidences of spam being generated by that blocked provider. We've had that happen with our home email provider in the past, so I know it can happen. It's possible that whatever company hosts Dr. K.'s email has, for whatever reason, blocked out any and all "XXXX@earthlink.net" emails, in which case he would not have every even received your send, even though it doesn't bounce back to you with an error.

[Phasmid]

Yes, I thought of this situation. I guess I will just wait and see if he responds to my gmail address. Thanks a lot.

[parents4eyes]

x

Edited September 8, 2010 by parents4eyes

[sf_mom]

I am truly sorry you are having difficulties and I know your frustration. Hang in there and be persistent with both the office and e-mail. He truly is very good about e-mails 'unless out of town'...... even to the point of answering on a weekend night once you are an established patient. He knows PANDAS inside and out and suspect your most recent lack of response was him being out of town and being very, very, very busy. I understand Dr. B's office is no different these days.

 

Unfortunately/fortunately the word is getting out but we still have too few treating Dr.s.