Dr. Craig E. Christensen, MD 901 Pacific Street, Monterey, CA 93940

"My GP wanted me to get an internal medical specialist's 2nd opinion/diagnosis. My symptoms all started very suddenly, just a few months before. I started by telling Dr. Christensen about how a 30 pound weight gain was the most startling thing because, no matter what I did, the scale just went up. I told him that I am an athlete, and he laughed at me, saying, "An athlete, huh?", rather derisively. When I stated that my husband and I are competetive triathletes and that I regularly calculate my calories and macronutrients, and that I know what normally makes me gain or lose mass, he asked me whether if my husband were sitting there with us, "Would he describe it like that, or would he say you just eat too much?" "Ummm ... what?!", I asked, utterly shocked. He repeated it, and then asked if I knew that athleticism wasn't merely climbing up a flight of stairs ... "I know it's probably hard for you, but it doesn't count", he said. After questioning why he'd say that to me, he told me in an irritated tone that he just listened to me complain about my symptoms for 20 whole minutes, and that he didn't know any other doctors who would have taken the time to do that ... like I was the one wasting his time. For the record, from the time I started telling him about my symptoms, to that point, he had persistently interrupted me to ask me questions like, "What does your husband do for a living?", "Is he in a senior position, or an entry level desk jockey?", "Where is he from originally?", "Where did you live before you moved to the Monterey area?", "What do your tattoos mean?" Notice how none of those has anything to do with any set of symptoms? So did I, and I said as much, and would try to get back to what my symptoms were. Then he replied, "I'm willing to work with you, but you have to get over not wanting to tell me all of your symptoms. It's important to tell a doctor what your symptoms are so that I can figure out what the problem is." I shot back, "You want me to tell you again all of the symptoms that you just complained about having to listen to ... in another $1000 appointment?! You're dreaming." I walked out. He actually followed me out of the exam room, and stated loudly, for everyone who was in the office hallway to hear, something about how I needed to sign some paper to have my lab records sent over ... the lab records I had brought in with me in a large Manilla envelope, which he didn't want to look at because, "we could save that for the next appointment". I understand wanting to get to know a patient, but mocking them? Interrupting them to ask questions that have nothing to do with why they're there? Gaslighting them when they complain about this, and telling them that they're the ones who are refusing to tell of their symptoms?! For $1000 an appointment! I'm glad I went to another doctor, who took a look at my labs, listened to my symptoms for 2 minutes, without interruptions, and said it sounds like ______ , and then ordered a simple blood test. One simple blood test, and ZERO Narcissistic abuse. My new doctor said that my labs alone more than suggested my illness, but that this test would confirm it, and that I'd only need to see him again to go over the results, and to talk about which steps to take next ... not the arduous journey of multiple appointments that Christensen was trying to sell me."

"can u help me?"