Seattle, WA: Harborview Chronic Fatigue Clinic

[concerned_husband]

Just had the initial intake exam yesterday with a physicians assistant and some kind of nurse.

WHAT. A. $&@$-ING. JOKE.

If you want to wait 3 months after filling out a long packet only to verbally recite everything so they can put it in their computer keep your appointment.

On top of that, the knowledge of people there have about CFS is none.

Here are some great quotes from the intake:

1. Have you tried meditation? You might just be anxious and that's why you can't sleep.
2. Your blood pressure is low. You need it to be higher so eat salty foods.
3. You should try B12 it will give you more energy.
4. You should try a sleep study if you can't sleep.
5. What tests do you want us to run? I don't know what else to test. (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?)

The entire appointment felt like they would win the lottery if they could convince me of all the reasons why I don't have CFS.

They literally didn't know what to medically test to dive deeper into what might be causing CFS. Now I know that there isn't a set method out there that's agreed upon but they should have at least one or two decent attempts at medical tests to rule out viruses or auto immune conditions - and they didn't.

The CFS harborview clinic is unfortunately all that is wrong with western medicine: they have a sign that says "chronic fatigue" and unfortunately no knowledge or expertise beyond that.

PLEASE save your money and look elsewhere for help. You will be extremely disappointed after waiting 6 months and lots of your own time and money to complete their process with nothing to show for it.

 

[Strawberry]

@concerned_husband That is so sad to hear! This is SEATTLE for crying out loud! The land of freaking Microsoft, Boeing, Amazon, and many high quality bioengineering companies. We have so many brains in this region, yet I feel when it comes to medical, we live in the dark ages.



Maybe we should petition Drs Kaufman/Kogelnick, or any other US clinics to open a branch here. Actually, I just might email Dr Kaufman and mention that.

Sorry to hear that it is STILL a waste of time and precious energy.

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

Sorry to hear that it is STILL a waste of time and precious energy.

Has been, since the early 1990's, when I was first aware of it.

 

[PallasKat]

Thank you @concerned_husband for posting this - I had a similar experience as you can read earlier in this thread. However, I was ordered an EXTENSIVE blood draw after my first appointment - for which I was billed over $1000.00!!

I showed that bill to my wonderful PCP at the Polyclinic and she was APPALLED - she said I could have had the same blood work done for less than half the price. Now I know.

Regardless of that, I strongly recommend (again) looking into the Fibromyalgia Research Study at the UW ( http://depts.washington.edu/anesth/research/fibromyalgia/ ) since most people with CFS qualify - there are so many "cross over" symptoms between the two. They are WONDERFUL there and, even if one chooses not participate in the study, they are very kind and professional. I felt that I got my life back after participating in this study....and GOT PAID to do it.

You might also look into Holistic Healing Arts in Edmonds WA ( http://www.holistichealingarts.org/ ). They only take cash, but have many resources to offer patients with CFS & Lyme

Warmest wishes,

P-Kat

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

Thank you @concerned_husband for posting this - I had a similar experience as you can read earlier in this thread. However, I was ordered an EXTENSIVE blood draw after my first appointment - for which I was billed over $1000.00!!

This also was happening in the early 90's, at the same price!