Higgins Ronald A MD

*Don’t read if you are squeamish.*
I’m fair skinned and know the risk of skin cancer for people like me.
I made an appointment here for a screening. First one I’ve ever had. A friend of mine briefed me on what to expect — thankfully.
When the doctor came in, he asked me what I wanted him to look at… well, it’s a screening — so everything. He had an intern or somebody else with him and I didn’t mind that. There was also a nurse (I suspect) in the room. She didn’t say much and the doctor’s personality was so strange I couldn’t tell when he was kidding or not.
So he finds a mole on my chest and starts saying how it was worrisome and it needed to come off. The sun could hit and it could mutate into cancer and all kinds of scary stuff. He has me lay back and the nurse numbs the area. I mean it was this fast. Like it was no big deal. There was no discussion. I guess I could have ran away, but he already has the scalpel out and at this point I’m so afraid I have skin cancer I’m willing to do whatever.
He hacks some skin off and gives me stitches, all the while explaining the procedure to the intern. They walk out and then the nurse says «ok, then» and shuts the door to leave. So, I lay there for what seems like forever. I have still have the paper drape and bloody gauze on my chest. I’m thinking that I better not move in case they aren’t finished. It sure looks like they aren’t finished. Ten minutes must have went by and I sit up and look around. There are discharge instructions and a sample of Neosporin on the desk. I have to jump down (with newly placed stitches) from the table. They didn’t even have the decency to pull the step out for me.
I get dressed and throw all the bloody mess away. I step out and they are laughing and having a good time. I ask if I can go and they tell me yeah and look at me like they can’t believe I’m still there. They don’t even direct me out… I just start wandering around.
Now, I’m mad. I ask to speak with the office manager. I am obliged, but while I’m telling her my story I notice she isn’t writing anything down. She doesn’t even pretend like this is anything that will be reviewed or filed.
She calls the nurse in and asks if she left me alone, still prepped for a procedure. The nurse denies it, she was dismissed and it looks like I’m a crazy person talking craziness. I wasn’t taken seriously at all. I’m sure the employee’s word was believed over mine and she was not reprimanded in any way.
I went home and cried. I had to go back in two weeks to have the stitches removed and that was the last time I went there.
I showed the pathology report to my new dermatologist and he said that the mole should have been checked annually. So, I went through all of that for nothing. I have a scar on my chest and it wasn’t even necessary.
They had no concern for my feelings. They didn’t give me time to think about if I wanted a scar on my chest. They didn’t explain anything. All I got was «lay back» and «ok, then». The information I got was what I overheard him telling the intern.
At my job, I give more procedure explanation and discharge instructions for veinapuncture than they do for a procedure that will require stitches and leave a scar.