Docs in Ohio

[deeplyset]

I would really like to see Dr. Grubb (since he is the only one anyone ever hears about) but my insurance doesn't cover him and I can't afford to see him on my own dime...

But I would like to see a POTS specialization... SO, I was wondering who #2 and maybe my insurance will cover them...???

I have friends who live in OH so, I looked up the doctors (from the dinet website)there that are covered by my insurance and they are as follows:

1. Thomas Chelimsky

2. Barry Deran

3. Fetnat Fouad-Tarazi

Does anyone know anything about these doctors??? Are they any good? Are they worth going out of state for? How do the measure up to Dr. Grubb? Etc? Etc? Any information is helpful...

I have doctors here that are treating me but they don't know very much about POTS. And I would really like to have a Specialists on board...

Thanks for any help.

Rachel

[LisaColumbus]

Hi Rachel,

I am a patient of Dr Grubb's but I have been to Cleveland Clinic. The facility itself and the staff are fantastic. The testing was first class. The follow-up and actual treatment was non-existent. I would highly recommend it if you are going for testing only. That's just my experience, hopefully others have had better experiences.

[dizzygirl]

hi!

i also am a patient of dr. grubbs, and have to second Lisa columbus..I too have been seen at the cleveland clinic.. and I must say that I was not to impressed.

Dr. Fouad was great at getting a history and listening to what was going on.. and there testing facilities are top notch.. there follow up care and treatment in my opinion *****..

the other cariologist I saw there beside dr. fouad, was Dr. martin. I will not see him again. In my opinion, he was pompus. He turned everything that I said into a psycgological problem... and that I must be suffering from anxiety attacks and panic attack that that is why my heart beats so fast.

Well heck, if they say it then it must be true!

So My experience with the clevelnad clinic was not a positive one.. sorry..

good luck too you..If they is any way that you could see Dr. grubb.. that would be best.. do you by chance live in Ohio? you may want to contact a social worker through the hospital.. if you are an Ohio resident, you can apply for a program, to were you wouldnt have to pay the medical cost..its based on your income I believe.

its worth looking into. again good luck

Edited July 30, 2005 by MightyMouse

[PattiL]

Hi Rachel,

My daughter Chrissy has POTS and was first diagnosed in 2001 by Dr. Chelimsky. We wanted a second opinion so we went to Dr. Fouad and finally we went to Dr. Grubb. We are not familiar with Dr. Deran.

Dr. Chemilsky is very good at diagnosic testing, BUT we have detected some arrogance with him. He's nice, reminds us of one of those crazy professors on TV actually! He's OK at following up, MUCH better than Fouad, which as Lisa said, is non-existent. Dr. Chelimsky's staff has always been great. My complaint about him is that he always made my daughter feel bad in the fact that he was always pushing her to go to school when she couldn't even walk unassisted! He insisted that she should attend at least part-time, which of course didn't happen (she was 16 and in her sophomore year). He also put her on a beta-blocker which wasn't helping her at all and of course, had her see the town shrink thinking there were underlying problems. He's the one that diagnosed her with POTS--go figure!

As stated in other posts testing is wonderful at CCF, but that's about it. Once we made our appt. with Dr. Grubb and saw him, he took her off the beta-blocker immediately and put her on florinef. The difference in how she felt was like night and day. So, if at all possible, see Dr. Grubb, or at least his PA, Beverly. If you go on a Tues. or Thurs. you can meet with her and he will also be there and hopefully be able to spend some time with you. From what I understand I don't believe he does any testing though.

Good Luck, Patti

[Sue]

Another option, but I am not sure with his recent illness how much he is doing this. I see Dr. Grubb once a year, out of pocket. Imbetween I see my primary care physician. She talks to him constantly as well as writes my prescriptions and orders my tests so that my insurance does cover it. From there Dr. Grubb controls my treatment just through my primary. Just a thought..

Good luck

Sue

[BallroomA]

Hey - I saw Dr. Fouad-Tarazi testing at Cleveland was great got my diagnosis...treatment and anything else HA HA HA. But of course since I am not on any meds as the ones they prescribed I had already been on an they did nothing...well lets just say I am not feeling to hot. Of course though since I went to Cleveland and had tried everything they prescribed to no avail the problem must be in my head (according to my parents).

If you need testing Cleveland is amazing but as for care don't count on them

[deeplyset]

Wow, thank you all for the information. No I don't live in Ohio. I live in Nevada. But I have some friends who live in Ohio so I would be able to stay with them if I went there and therefore would be able to save on costs.

Well, when it comes to doctors its doesn't sound like the overall opinion is very high with most of the other OH doctors other than Grubb. I do have a PPO plan with my insurance so maybe it would be worth it just to do it and work the money out??? I don't know.

Does Dr. Grubb ever look at what CAUSES of your POTS? Is he insterest in the Research aspects of it? How long does it take to get in? How do you start the process? Where should I start?

Thank you all for your help.

[steph37822]

Here is Dr. Grubb's contact info:

Dr. Blair Grubb

Medical University of Ohio

Phone: (419) 383-3963

Toll-free: (800) 321-8383 ext. 3963

hours 8:30-4:30pm M-F

[LindaJoy]

Hi, Rachel,

I live in Ohio and have Dr. Fouad at the Cleveland Clinic for my POTS doc. She is, like everyone says, a great one to go to for the initial testing, but for follow-up care? No. She continually refers me to my family doctor, who won't touch my POTS with a ten foot pole, so she refers me back to the Cleveland Clinic. In other words, I'm not getting much done here.

I've heard wonderful things about Dr. Grubb, but he's the only Ohio doctor I've heard great rants about. I saw him once. He was in on the ablation that was attempted on my heart back in 1998. It was unsuccessful, thank goodness! But, that's the only contact I ever had with him. Sorry I can't be of much more help there.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

LindaJoy

[tracy]

As for me, I was seen by a few doctors in Youngstown, OH (near where I live) and they told me I needed surgury. I then went to the Cleveland Clinic and saw, Dr. Hammer. He then passed me to see Dr. Fouad. The testing (tilt, dye testing) was done quickly. As for follow-up care, I haven't had any yet. Hopefully I have a better time, (sorry about that). They put me on Loppressor and Levsin. I hope this helps me and we will soon see.