Dr. Kwong-Hon Chow, MD

Where to begin! I had cancer that metastasized to my skull years ago. I go in for regular follow ups with MRI etc. I have been seeing the same doctor for my condition since 2007. When I scheduled my follow up this year, I was told that all brain and skull patients were being deferred to Dr. Chow—a new doctor to the practice. I reluctantly agreed to see him. Man, I was completely and utterly underwhelmed. Dr. Chow was an hour late to my scheduled appointment. What’s annoying is that I know that he was eating lunch during the time he was supposed to be in my appointment. I was in this room by myself for an entire hour without anyone checking on me. I finally stepped outside the room to see what was going on?! Dr. Chow was on his way to the receptionist’s desk when I caught him and asked when he planned to meet with me. I could tell he was caught off guard. He walked into the room completely unprepared! He asked my name and looked me up on the computer. And just says, “I’ll… give you the punchline—everything looks fine.” He told me he didn’t have much info on my cancer etc. Everytime I go in for my follow ups, the doctor reviews my scans with me. Dr. Chow literally told me less than I got from the radiologist report!? Why did I even go in to see this dude!??? So I mention that I have been suffering from chronic lower back pain. He told me that I should see my primary care doctor for that. I have a PPO, so I explained that I didn’t require a referral. I asked who I would see for my spine—knowing darn well it would be him! And he said yes he would be the guy! So...ummm?? I asked what he would suggest to identify the root cause of my back pain. He told me that it didn’t matter—there was nothing he could do. I was so gobsmacked! What the!??? I asked him how he would know it wasn’t something more serious. He said, “ I just know.” I kept prodding..,how, why do you know??? What treatment would you recommend? He said, Look, I’m not going to perform unnecessary surgery on you.” OMG, I made it clear to him I was not looking for surgery or even requesting that!!! Again, what the!!!! I told him I wanted to understand what the root cause of my pain was?! I asked him how to treat it. He told me to take pain meds. I asked if that is what he would recommend for chronic pain....to just take pain meds forever? He said yes! I was just thoroughly annoyed. I had a craniotomy and only took Tylenol after that. I don’t like hard core pain meds! I prodded and prodded for other answers. He finally sighed and said he would write me a script for PT. I declined. I was freaking annoyed. I will just go to another doctor. I had cancer that metastasized. I told him that to tell me my back pain was nothing—without any examination or imaging was silly. If I was a perfectly healthy person with no history of cancer etc...I might understand. This guy was completely unprofessional. He acted like I was putting him out for expecting him to be prepared, to be on time, to respect me and to answer my questions. I don’t want to hear: “ because I just know” as answer. Explain to me why!? Give me facts to go on. When he told me he would not perform unnecessary surgery on me, I was floored! I am not someone who wants surgery...I definitely don’t want pain meds! I want a doctor who listens, actually reads my file, actually reads my scans and reviews them with me! I would not allow this guy to remove a splinter from my finger let alone perform brain surgery on me. This guy is a joke!