Dr. Manvelyan, My Precious Primary Care Doctor
Dr. Manvelyan, My Precious Primary Care Doctor
Dr Manvelyan has been my primary care doctor for less than a year and I count myself blessed to have found her. I had a heart attack at the beginning of August and was taken to Huntington Hospital. While there I decided to change my primary care doctor to someone close by. Following recommendations and an interview to get to meet her, I became one of Dr. Manvelyans patients.
I figure she has saved or improved my life several times. The first time was in September when I had taken my goddaughter with me to meet her. It was then I discovered how perceptive and brilliant she is. It was only the fourth visit to see her and part of the initial new patient orientation. The doctor is an opera lover and was talking to my goddaughter who is an opera singer. Although she had had minimal contact with me, Dr. Manvelyan knew me better than I imagined. Although she and my goddaughter were chatting, she was continually assessing me. When she stopped her conversation, she studied me, asked questions, and concluded something was not right. She said she would take blood but since it was a Friday, she would not get results until Monday. She decided it would be better for my goddaughter to take me to Huntington ER. She called ahead to tell them to take me in right away for a blood test. It showed very dangerously highly elevated liver enzymes. If I had waited for the following week, it might have been too long. Her confident and immediate decision-making, I believe, saved my life.
The second time was soon after when she acted as a tenacious detective on my behalf. I was hospitalized from ER and the staff searched for answers for why my enzymes were so high. They finally said it might be medicine and took me off the statin the cardiologist had prescribed. But it was my Dr. Manvelyan who researched all of the medicine and took me off another heart medicine that rarely caused an allergic reaction. However we discovered that was the problem when she took me off the medicine and my enzymes went down. I think she saved my life again.
The third time was through Dr. Manvelyans case management skills when I was taken to the emergency at another hospital after a 911 call when I fainted late in the evening in October. Although she was not part of the staff at this hospital she talked to doctors and specialists there to lead them in treating my case of diverticulitis which was severe and infection had spread. I was in the hospital 3 weeks and then she helped me find a long term care facility where I had a pik for antibiotics prescribed by an infectious disease doctor for another three weeks. I believe she was able to work with the other hospital because of her diplomacy, her vast knowledge, her sense of responsibility and her extraordinary dedication to patient care.
The fourth time was through her case management in forming a team of Huntington doctors to speed up treatment for pain in my urinary tract and my bowels. She sent me for a cystoscopy, the doctors thought they found diverticulitis in my badly inflamed bladder. Dr. Manvelyan referred me to a surgeon who looked at the results of the bladder procedure and determined I would need a colonoscopy and surgery through outpatient services which would have required complicated scheduling and a wait of at least 5 weeks. Once again on a follow-up, Dr. Manvelyan studied, examined and questioned me about pain and decided to get the work done quicker. This was on a Friday afternoon. Through her coordination and management, Monday at noon I checked into the Huntington Hospital where I had the prep and a colonoscopy on Tuesday. They found a hole in my bladder, widespread diverticulitis and got me in for surgery Wednesday night. I am now at home almost 4 weeks later and I am recovering from the successful work of the team Dr. Manvelyan put together. If we had followed the original schedule the surgery would not have been done yet. She saved me much pain and suffering, and probably stopped the spread of infection which could have been life threatening.
I have great respect for Dr. Manvelyan, for her brilliance, her sense of humor and compassion which make me feel comfortable, and her genuine concern for her patients. I remember the comment of the doctor at ER, at the other hospital where I was taken by paramedics, who talked to her when she called in the middle of the night to consult. He told me after his conversation that she was very knowledgeable about me and that she is a keeper. Oh my yes!
Dr. Manvelyan is a special and precious person to me. I feel fortunate and blessed to have her as my primary care doctor.
Sue H.