Dr. Ira Bickham Wood, MD

Dr. Wood was extremely thorough and answered all my questions. BEd side manners were awesome and made me feel at home although I was in the ER.

Emergency room visit: Sweet-natured nurse showed up in 15 minutes. Put a wristband on me. My doctor's name on the band is Danielle Jackson. Nurse Peggy interviewed me briefly and took temp and blood pressure. 20 minutes later, insurance clerk comes, gives me forms to fill, goes. 30 minutes later, a small dumpy balding man enters, glances at me, mumbles his name. No way is this Danielle Jackson. On one of her visits over the next 3 1/2 hours, Nurse Peggy tells me his name is Doctor Wood, and usually the computer gets the wrong name. What?While in the room for less than five minutes, Doctor Wood looked at my longtime rash on my lower right leg, examined my ear for infection. I told him black stuff had been coming out of it. He shone his little flashlight tool, said, "It looks red to me. You've probably got swimmer's ear. Have you been in the water?""Not really," I said. He started to leave."Doc, can you look at my left big toe? The toenail . . "He interrupted, walking out… of the room. "I don't think we'll look at any more tonight. The two conditions are plenty."Again: What?I didn't get to tell him about my big toe beginning to swell and redden, or my big toenail peeling off from back to front over a week's time, nor about the skin rash on my arms.He had ordered bloodwork. The nurse took some blood. A technician came in and wheeled me down the hall for the little TV camera examnation. She tested my right leg for a blood clot. There was none.Time passed. The insurance clerk came in and got the paperwork. The nurse visited a couple of times. Finally the doctor walked in with the bloodwork results. "You did a lot better than I expected," he said. He gave me two prescriptions, eardrops and a 10-day course of an antibiotic, Ceocin. He walked out of my life, never dreaming that I understood what a quack he is, judging me by my facial hair instead of spending a minute getting to know me. He had me pegged the minute he saw me, wrongly as it turns out.