Deborah Jean Nichols

Actually said I dont look sick! Lupus patients dont visually look sick! Pain and issues are inside our body! Very dismissive of my symptoms and pain. Brushed me off on pain clinic. Pain clinic prescribes opiates and im against taking any of that! See ANY other rheumatologist group. Southwoods is not the place for good care. I have two other family me.bers seen at Rheumatology at southwoods. They both are receiving poor care and no results. Its sad this used to be a place to go for good care.

She saw my mother today for arthritis issues in the hands and knees. A requirement for this appointment was that my mom had to stop taking the only med that helped her pain for MONTHS. We get to the appointment and Nichols goes over her history and does her exam. During this exam we discovered pain in my mother's back. From this point onward everything became about the back pain. My Mom's joints were "not swollen enough." This woman also said that arthritis and RA do not affect the back. A blatant falsehood. She then dismissed RA entirely despite previous medical history suggesting otherwise. From here, the tone for the rest of the appointment was that my mother was fine, she was just fat. Her back hurts because she is fat. Her hands and legs hurt because she is fat. This woman dismissed everything my mother said after we had waited for MONTHS where my mom could not do basic functions because of the pain. When asked about what to do for pain between now and when the bloodwork came in,… she recommended compression gloves and a cream. Nichols overlooked everything my mother said, like it went in one ear and out the other. She didn't even apologize when the exam caused pain. Dismissive, stuck up, and cold. She will not explain anything to you. If you are referred to this nurse practitioner, refuse. She will not help you.

Dismissive when blood test has 5 indicators of autoimmune disorder. Avoid her at all costs. Lack of sympathy, empathy and humanity