Short story: patient for several years, front desk staff is great, uncaring bedside manner and…read moreinflicting huge unnecessary pain on a biopsy has left me traumatized.
Long story: I have seen Christine at Epiphany (formerly Peak) Dermatology in downtown Littleton for several years for skin cancer checks. I've always been a little put off by how quickly my appointments are and how impersonal my care felt, but I trusted Christine so I sacrificed some of my comfort as a patient. However, my most recent experience has left me really upset and feeling violated.
Last month for the first time, I had two pre-cancer spots that needed to be removed. During my appointment, Christine spotted a cluster at the tip of my nose and without warning, grabbed a tool and burned the skin off. I was ok with removing this spot, but I had zero warning for this to happen. I was shaken up, this was quick and painful and to be honest I felt violated.
On the bottom of my foot, Christine found a mole that needed to be removed and biopsied. The only warning I got for this was her saying "You don't have plans this weekend, do you?" Again, I understand this spot needed to be removed, and I had signed a consent form for its removal, but I was left really unprepared for what followed. Christine perform a brutal punch biopsy to the ball of my foot, needing several cauterizations and deep stitches. I was told to "stay off it" and was sent home with bandages and Aquaphor. The sutures were really painful, and it was altogether horrible to walk on. For the last three weeks, I've been in bed, nearly unable to walk, and had to cancel all plans and call out of work.
I returned two weeks later to get the non-dissolvable sutures removed, the assistant who performed the removal did not offer to numb the area, causing the worst pain (outside of childbirth!) I've ever experienced.
It was never offered to me to numb this area - not before starting, or even when I was yelling things over and over like "Oh my god that is really painful!" After the last stitch was removed, I crawled to the floor and fainted, and the employee left the room and closed the door, saying, "I'll give you a minute." She later blamed me for not asking for a numbing shot, saying "You should have asked to have it numbed, I didn't know it was an option."
While I was on the floor, Christine visited me and again was brusque, impersonal, and uncaring. She didn't stay long, and was busy visiting with pharmaceutical sales reps just outside.
I was completely unprepared for the impact of this procedure. Christine asked what I was doing THAT weekend, she did not prepare me to have a deep, open wound on the sole of my foot for a month. I have had to cancel all my plans, call out of work, and rely on others to cook, clean, and help care for my kids for the last THREE+ weeks. This procedure, especially the amount of easily avoidable pain I endured, has frankly left me traumatized. I understand it's hard to get in to see a dermatologist around here, but this office is NOT WORTH IT! I can't even drive by this building without wincing anymore.