Dr. Don Elwood Cheatum, MD

His name says it clearly. He is a cheat! My first appointment was at 4am! He did spend 1hr with me initially. Subsequent visits had EXTREMELY long wait times. The last visit I was there 6 (SIX!) HOURS! He insisted on steroid injections on EVERY visit, even after I refused. He added at least1 new diagnosisevery visit. The final straw was when he had notified me by mail that due to Medicare changes, I needed to write multiple letters on his behalf. He had also just returned from a 3week vacation in Italy. I was the 2nd patient that day. In EVERY exam room on EVERY visit there were MULTIPLE bandaids lined up on the cabinet. After a very brief exam, he left the room. I heard his nurse remind him that he hot given me a steroid injection. He returned to the room, and proceeded to attempt to inject me. I said no 3 times. (I have very severe negative side effects from steroids) He got very angry and said if I didn't comply, he would dismiss me from his practice. I went ahead and let him… do it, but never went back. Awful bedside manner. Absurdly long wait times, as well as the whole "steroid injection SCAM" (I know it was for the sole purpose of charging Medicare). RUN! This man should be locked up.

Dr Cheatum is a great doctor. So thankful to have found him. HOWEVER his office staff is rude , condescending. The office manager , (Bunnie) thinks she's a nurse and and Erica thinks she is a doctor. Their all related so to complain is to no avail. I ask them to have Dr. Cheatum to call me and they refused. Said I could give them my message and they would tell him. My complaint was about them. Do you really think they told him. BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE.

His office staff are rude. Especially "Bunnie", she is very condescending and does not have social skills for the public.

Dr Cheatium is an awesome Rheumatologist. He diagnosed me 3 years ago with SeroNegative RA when other doctors in Grayson County couldn't find what was wrong. I am so grateful to him. However the girls that work in his office are rude and hateful. Especially Bunnie !!! I feel like they could use a course in customer Service.

When you are referred to Dr Cheatum and make an appointment, you will be told that the initial appointment can take up to 5 hours. Don't be turned off by this! He has a remarkable ability to find out what is wrong with you and help to start treating it. I thought I was going crazy, as well as my spouse, when I hurt all the time everywhere it seemed. After the initial appointment, he was able to finally provide me a diagnosis and put me on medication to slow it down. RA is not a curable disease, but it is managable. True his bedside manner is not the warmest, but he always takes the time to answer my questions and explain test results when I ask. He is a brilliant man! As to the rude staff, cut them some slack, they are there at 330am to help meet patient demads. I am sure working for the DR is not easy either. I love this doctor!

I really like him. He done a lot of testing before diagnosing me. That was really impressive. I have been going back to him for a few years now. He is very professional. The medication he put me on has worked and he has adjust it to my needs. When I return he does blood work to make sure the medication is not harming anything else.

I have been seeing Don Cheatum for a longtime and i am very pleased with his work i have went from being sick all the time to maybe one or two times a year.

After seeing many "Rheumatologists" for many years with no real diagnosis or help, I happened upon Dr Cheatum. There were many x-rays and blood tests and I at first thought that he was just hitting the insurance for all it was worth. But then, he spend over an hour alone with me taking my history and asking tons of questions, many of which I did not see the relevance at the time. This was the first and only time that I have had a Doctor spend that much time with me. He diagnosed me and gave me prescriptions that stopped the progression of my arthritis and restored my hands to full function. I have been seeing him for over 10 years. If you want warm bedside manner and a lot of hand holding, perhaps someone else might serve your needs better. If you want an accurate diagnosis and proper meds to make you better, he is your man! For me, that is what counts.

The office manager Manuela is the rudest & most hateful person I have ever met. Very unsympathetic, never even looks at you while your at the check in desk, complete control freak. If you make any comment to her she makes you wait longer. I made a comment that I had been over looked & some patients were being seen before me but I had been there longer. I was not rude to her just reminded her how long I had been there. She yelled at me in front of everyone in the office. I waited a few minutes longer & left as I had an infusion treatment & was pre-medicated. Once she realized I had left she had Dorothy call me & tell me my infusion would not be covered under insurance unless I saw the Doctor after (totally false). I went back the next day on Saturday (unscheduled) & Cheatum did see me. I told him what happened & he said he would talk to her. I have had several problems with her since then. If he wasn't such a good doctor I would be long gone by now. He has helped me with my Lupus but if… nothing is done with that Witch in the office I will look for care else where. Not worth being upset & unhappy.

I saw Dr. Cheatum 20 years ago and found him to be rude and condescending. When they advise you there could be up to a 4 hour wait that should have been a red flag. He prescribed an extremely high powered drug that, after some research, I choose not to take and on my second visit when I told him that he proceeded to severly lecture me on how I was not a doctor and should not question his instructions. I left in tears and never went back. I was shocked to see him still in practice while looking for a new Dr. I would rather be in pain the rest of my life than have to deal with that horrible man.