Review by
Anonymous
on
January 04, 2016
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James J. Freeman DO - 4 W Main St
Office & Staff Evaluation
Practice Evaluation
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Ease of Getting an Appointment
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Courtesy of Practice Staff
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Appearance & Atmosphere of Office
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Handling of Billing & Insurance
- Average Wait Time 31 minutes or more
Provider Evaluation
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Willingness to Spend Time with You
- Listening Skills Not rated
- Clear explanations Not rated
- Trust in Decision Making Not rated
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Accuracy of Diagnosis
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Post-Visit Follow-Up
“Would not recommend.”
On her website Dr. Freeman-Brndjar advertises that she provides exceptional care to all her patients in a warm and caring environment. My experience was the opposite.
On Thursday, November 12th I had a positive pregnancy test for our first child; on Saturday I started spotting. By that Monday the bleeding had increased and I called to schedule an initial appointment to verify pregnancy and be seen about the bleeding. On the phone the office person did not offer congratulations and demanded to know if my pregnancy had been verified. When I said I had been bleeding she said that I wasn’t patient and sounded like she didn’t care. I did have an appointment scheduled for the coming Wednesday, November 18th. At this appointment I filled out all of the paperwork and was given a script to have a beta hCG drawn. I was not seen privately by the doctor. She sort of shouted at me from across the waiting room without introducing herself, asking about cramps and bleeding before saying it was probably nothing. I had the first hCG level drawn on November 19th. The office did not call to give me my results until the 24th, beta hCG levels are meant to be drawn 2-3 days apart so you can see a trend of them rising. The nurse who called just gave me a number and told me I had to get another level drawn, she did not explain anything or ask me if I had any questions. I now know that the initial number was low for the dates I gave the office. I had a second level drawn on the 25th. The Dr. should have been watching because the levels were off from dates reported, but as far as I know, she never attempted to follow up over the holiday weekend.
I went to the ER on Sunday the 29th with severe abdominal pain; I was no longer bleeding. When there I received my first ultrasound and the ER said that they suspected an ectopic pregnancy, but were unable to visualize anything. They also drew their own beta hCG, which was only slightly increased from the initial level, it should have been more than doubled at this point. They were also unable to get into contact with the Dr.
On Tuesday, December 1st I had a follow up appointment with Dr. Freeman Brndjar. She said that she suspected that the ectopic pregnancy had blown itself out on Sunday and neglected to order her own ultrasound. She told me not to be alone, to rest as if I had the flu and told me to have another level drawn the next day.
I had another level drawn on Wednesday morning. By this time I was worried about her actually following up in a timely manner, so I called Thursday morning for the test results. I was told that she had not yet reviewed the results. Late Thursday afternoon she called back and reported that the levels had risen slightly, and told me to get another level drawn first thing Friday morning. The continuously slightly rising level should have been a hint that the pregnancy was ectopic, had not cleared itself and was still present. The Dr. still did not order another ultrasound.
Friday the 3rd I had another level drawn at 7am. By 6pm the office had closed and I had not received the results. She had a patient with instructions not to be left alone being monitored for an ectopic pregnancy with still rising hCG levels and she could not be bothered to check the levels and let the patient know what was going on. I called the after hours number to report that I had once again started bleeding and that I wanted my test results. It took her 45 minutes to get back to me, she then reported that my level had not changed since the last test. This should have been another warning sign.
The next evening I once again had abdominal pain, so we called Dr. Freeman-Brndjar. An hour later she got back to us and said that we should still go the ER even though the pain had subsided. I consider this the only correct decision that she made this entire time. She also told us to keep her updated. When the ER attempted to call her to ask questions it took her an hour to get back to them as well. At the ER they did another ultrasound, which revealed that the pregnancy was definitely ectopic and that my fallopian tube was either about to or had already started rupturing. I was rushed to emergency surgery, which removed my unborn child and my right fallopian tube. While it is tragically true that no medical intervention could have saved our child once the pregnancy became ectopic, had Dr. Freeman Brndjar's office acted with even a modicum of urgency or competency once the pregnancy was suspected to be ectopic, I would likely have two fallopian tubes today, instead of one.
I continued to have beta hCG levels drawn over the following three weeks to allow Dr. Freeman Brndjar’s office to trace the levels to zero. During this time I had to continue to pester the office staff in order to find out what my blood levels were after each one was drawn. At no point during this experience did the Dr or any of her staff offer any condolences or support. When I called to receive my last blood level and inform the office that I was switching practices and wanted them to send my chart to the new office, they told me that they would be charging a $10 administrative fee. This is legally allowed, but really? I cannot recommend this office to anyone. Perhaps she is excellent for a healthy pregnancy, but she and her staff clearly are incapable of handling both the loss of a baby with compassion and handling an ectopic pregnancy with medical competence.
Comment - “ Would not recommend. ”
On her website Dr. Freeman-Brndjar advertises that she provides exceptional care to all her patients in a warm and caring environment. My experience was the opposite. On Thursday, November 12th I had a positive pregnancy test for our first child; on Saturday I started spotting. By that Monday the bleeding had increased and I called to schedule an initial appointment to verify pregnancy and be seen about the bleeding. On the phone the office person did not offer congratulations and demanded to know if my pregnancy had been verified. When I said I had been bleeding she said that I wasn’t patient and sounded like she didn’t care. I did have an appointment scheduled for the coming Wednesday, November 18th. At this appointment I filled out all of the paperwork and was given a script to have a beta hCG drawn. I was not seen privately by the doctor. She sort of shouted at me from across the waiting room without introducing herself, asking about cramps and bleeding before saying it was probably nothing. I had the first hCG level drawn on November 19th. The office did not call to give me my results until the 24th, beta hCG levels are meant to be drawn 2-3 days apart so you can see a trend of them rising. The nurse who called just gave me a number and told me I had to get another level drawn, she did not explain anything or ask me if I had any questions. I now know that the initial number was low for the dates I gave the office. I had a second level drawn on the 25th. The Dr. should have been watching because the levels were off from dates reported, but as far as I know, she never attempted to follow up over the holiday weekend. I went to the ER on Sunday the 29th with severe abdominal pain; I was no longer bleeding. When there I received my first ultrasound and the ER said that they suspected an ectopic pregnancy, but were unable to visualize anything. They also drew their own beta hCG, which was only slightly increased from the initial level, it should have been more than doubled at this point. They were also unable to get into contact with the Dr. On Tuesday, December 1st I had a follow up appointment with Dr. Freeman Brndjar. She said that she suspected that the ectopic pregnancy had blown itself out on Sunday and neglected to order her own ultrasound. She told me not to be alone, to rest as if I had the flu and told me to have another level drawn the next day. I had another level drawn on Wednesday morning. By this time I was worried about her actually following up in a timely manner, so I called Thursday morning for the test results. I was told that she had not yet reviewed the results. Late Thursday afternoon she called back and reported that the levels had risen slightly, and told me to get another level drawn first thing Friday morning. The continuously slightly rising level should have been a hint that the pregnancy was ectopic, had not cleared itself and was still present. The Dr. still did not order another ultrasound. Friday the 3rd I had another level drawn at 7am. By 6pm the office had closed and I had not received the results. She had a patient with instructions not to be left alone being monitored for an ectopic pregnancy with still rising hCG levels and she could not be bothered to check the levels and let the patient know what was going on. I called the after hours number to report that I had once again started bleeding and that I wanted my test results. It took her 45 minutes to get back to me, she then reported that my level had not changed since the last test. This should have been another warning sign. The next evening I once again had abdominal pain, so we called Dr. Freeman-Brndjar. An hour later she got back to us and said that we should still go the ER even though the pain had subsided. I consider this the only correct decision that she made this entire time. She also told us to keep her updated. When the ER attempted to call her to ask questions it took her an hour to get back to them as well. At the ER they did another ultrasound, which revealed that the pregnancy was definitely ectopic and that my fallopian tube was either about to or had already started rupturing. I was rushed to emergency surgery, which removed my unborn child and my right fallopian tube. While it is tragically true that no medical intervention could have saved our child once the pregnancy became ectopic, had Dr. Freeman Brndjar's office acted with even a modicum of urgency or competency once the pregnancy was suspected to be ectopic, I would likely have two fallopian tubes today, instead of one. I continued to have beta hCG levels drawn over the following three weeks to allow Dr. Freeman Brndjar’s office to trace the levels to zero. During this time I had to continue to pester the office staff in order to find out what my blood levels were after each one was drawn. At no point during this experience did the Dr or any of her staff offer any condolences or support. When I called to receive my last blood level and inform the office that I was switching practices and wanted them to send my chart to the new office, they told me that they would be charging a $10 administrative fee. This is legally allowed, but really? I cannot recommend this office to anyone. Perhaps she is excellent for a healthy pregnancy, but she and her staff clearly are incapable of handling both the loss of a baby with compassion and handling an ectopic pregnancy with medical competence.