Things I've been diagnosed with by Virginia Mason after resident PCPs at the UW said I was faking…read morethe head, neck, and back pain I suffered from not even 6 months out from a failed neck surgery that resulted in multiple government investigations and the firing of my spinal surgeon:
Chiari brain malformation, missed dozens of times by every UW radiologist and neurologist I ever encountered. Utterly inept.
Spinal cord damage
Occipital neuralgia, a painful condition that is described as debilitating by all credible sources. The UW wanted to stop all treatment and pain care: if they had been successful, I would be screaming in bed all day, every day, instead of living my life. They were trying to hurt me.
Thoracic scoliosis (also missed by every single UW employee, even though it was glaringly obvious to even a layman in my imaging)
Several missed Tarlov cysts in my spine
I was told I need an almost complete surgical ribcage reconstruction due to numerous abnormalities likely stemming from further discovered abnormalities in my spine and pelvis.
I had 100% government disability in addition to my very recent failed neck surgery: still, untrained, unspecialized doctors told me I was lying for attention. Hilary Iskin even told me she didn't bother to look through my chart, but had still decided I was faking it based off of pure prejudice and preconceived notions. David Rink used past sexual violence committed against me as psychological "evidence" that I was fabricating my profound and extensively documented health conditions, and put fraudulent and libelous information in my chart. Both of them refused to make any referrals for me to speak to specialists - they even refused to refer me to an orthopedist after my spinal surgery. They hurt and stymied me and my family.
The fact that I have been violently raped (with legal proceedings) made David Rink inherently suspicious of my ability to report honestly about my body. This is blatant and insidious misogyny, and Rink should lose his ability to access the charts of any female patients for the rest of his life. He should not have the ability to work with any victims ever again. He should not be in medicine.
Hospital staff asked me about the rape, and Rink pounced on that information - I never would've told him I was assaulted, as he had already raised his voice at me by this point for asking questions about his proposed "treatment" (only antidepressants, which time.com says is a toxic, widespread, and misogynistic practice that sexist doctors use to invalidate disbelieved chronically ill women). Sexual/psychological history is supposed to be protected information in patient charts. I feel violated a second time, as he used my assault that he learned about without my knowledge or consent to revictimize me, all because I had the gall to have been a victim, and to have trauma, pain, and a medical history that he wasn't competent, integrous, or academically curious enough to decipher. I believe he is hateful, profoundly judgmental, sexist (an accusation I take seriously and have never before levied against anyone), and deeply dangerous to the well-being of anyone he doesn't personally understand ... which will be many, as he's still in training.
Iskin is the sort of woman who says she champions women's rights, but is actually a judgmental mean girl - she was even weirdly passive aggressive about my skirt. Please, if you're a woman, consider a different doctor. She's stereotypically medically misogynistic and does not believe women's pain. Despite having 9 weeks to prepare for my appointment, she read nothing about me, and then declared nothing was wrong because she saw nothing (!!). Her medical neglect and malpractice snowballed into the rest of the abuse I suffered at the UW. Her cruelty, laziness, and abject lack of care or consideration changed the course of my life.
I wonder what it is about me that made Iskin decide to dismiss me entirely before even speaking to me. My age? My sex? My autism? My disability? ... we'll find out in court.
The UW constitutionally changed how I feel about doctors: I was diagnosed with C-PTSD by a therapist who specializes in medical trauma. I feel so much fear that I no longer go to appointments without an advocate, which has changed my life significantly as I'm disabled and have many regular appointments.
I'm confident I almost died multiple times during a string of UW hospitalizations involving spinal procedures with major complications. The UW is a misogynistic and incompetent organization with residents who hurt, maim, and kill.
At the encouragement of my new medical team, I'll be suing, and speaking publicly about these "doctors" and the UW for the rest of my life.
More in my previous reviews.
(Don't listen to the reviews on the UW Medicine website - you can't submit reviews online and won't find a single physician rated under 4.8, it's corrupt. Turn to healthgrades, where these doctors have a 1 or a 2 rating.)