Dr. Ann Marie Boss Sheffels, MD

I arrived early on a busy day in a lot of pain and she worked me into her schedule, which I appreciated. I had severe pain in my left lung, and could not take deep breaths or cough without very severe pain. I told her I was coughing up a lot of green, thick puss. I was concerned I may have broken a rib or pneumonia. She listened to my chest, but I could not take more than a little breath because of the pain, which was like a knife in my chest, and she quickly said "your lungs sound clear." I explained that I had not breathed deeply and she dismissed it. She ordered an xray to check for a blood clot in the lung and pneumonia. The xray came back negative and she my chest was clear and it was probably a pulled muscle. I was adamant more was going on, and offered to cough up the green to show that my chest was not clear. She was so rigid and didn't want to be questioned. I said "Are you trying to tell me nothing else is going on?" and her response was "Nope, you're nothing… special." She advised me to continue to use an inhaler prescribed by another North Clinic caregiver, even though I told her it was doing nothing for me and making my Tinnitus worse. She said I needed to focus on "symptom management" and take Tylenol. So I called the UHC Nurse hotline when I got home because I was in so much pain. They asked if she discussed Pleurisies and I said no. They said to get a re-evaluation, so later that day I went to Urgent Care not associated with North Clinic. That doctor asked if she did a D-Dimer (I said no) and hesaid "If she thinks you can see a blood clot in an x-ray, she doesn't know what she is talking about--I want an x-ray too because I want to see for myself. He also ordered a D-Dimer to check for a blood clot because I had recently been on a flight. The D-Dimer came back negative but the xray showed I did indeed have pneumonia--the very same day that Ann at North Clinic was adamant that I did not. In fairness, this may be the xray tech or the older equipment they use at North Clinic, but if a patient is saying it is like a knife in his lung when he sneezed, I don't he should be dismissed so quickly. To me, what I will always remember is her rigid viewpoint and how quick she was to judge, telling me it was probably a pulled muscle, not pneumonia and just not really having any cognitive flexibility. She came across as arrogant towards me. Having said this, I don't think she is a bad person, I just think has a perceived view of how things are and there is no moderating her view. I think she is trying her best, but I need somebody who is more caring and willing to work with me as an individual human, and not just profile a set of symptoms. Again, had the xray shown what the one two hours later did, I may have had a different experience.

Dr Sheffels is very professional She is one of the best at North Clinic. Although she's strictly professional (I prefer 'warm & fuzzy' ...a hug now and then) she does excellent work.