Spondylitis Association of America Forums General Discussion List your great doc here! looking for good rheumy in Washington State

Does anyone here know of a great rheumy in Washington State, western WA specifically?

Vancouver, Washington State
Dr. Uzma Khan
Adult Rheumatology, Internal Medicine, General Practice

I only had once visit with her so far, so this is a conditional recommendation! She's also the first rheumatologist I've ever seen. But I was overall pleased with the visit. Dr. Khan has excellent bedside manner, asked lots of questions, explained lots of stuff, and asked if I had any questions.

She considered that I may have an atypical presentation of fibromyalgia (no tender points) or an early presentation of something else. She mentioned Ankylosing Spondylitis several times. So I know she didn't immediately rule it out since I'm female.

She can be found in the directory at the American College of Rheumatology website
http://www.rheumatology.org/

Hi Kae,

Well...how far did you want to travel? Let's see, if you're in Pullman or thereabouts it would only be a 6 hour drive to Boise, where we have a fabulous rheumatologist. He's the advising physician of our Spondy support group -- and he volunteered to do it!

Dr. Knibbe has a special interest in spondyloarthropathies, has seen hundreds of cases, and stays up on the latest scientific literature. His years in practice and his caring personality make him one of the most knowledgeable rhuematologists around.

He’s listed in the SAA Directory
http://www.spondylitis.org/patient_resources/rheumatologist.aspx

Good luck!
Cindy

My Rheumy is downtown Seattle or Bellevue. I have been very happy with him. I walked in and got a diagnosis within minutes based on symptoms, history and pelvic CT. He has been as aggressive as I want him to be in treating me, offering Enbrel information on our first visit.

He is not very talkative but he does listen and I realized he pays very close attention to what he sees. A few months after my Enbrel he commented that I can get out a chair now. Apparantly, he had noted at an earlier visit that "pt stands from a chair as an 90 year old women would". He was so dead on and while he never commented to me that he noticed that, it was reassuring that he did.

Dr Peter Mohai

Hey Boise Gal - Do you know if Dr Knibbe also works out of Children's in Seattle? I have a hard tme believeing there could be a second Dr Knibbe rheumatalogist so close. He is my daughters rheumy in Seattle, perhaps they selected him because of my AS, though he is sure (as am I) that AS is not her issue. He is a very intelligent Dr and gave me lots of good information on many issues.

hello,

After a year and half of pain I was finally diagnosed by Dr Peter Overman at NW Hospital in Seattle. I recommend him highly.

I see Dr Wemple at Pacific Med. Center in Beacon Hill. She was voted one of the top docs in Seattle magazine. I am pleased with her so far..

I like Dr. Phillip Mease at Swedish Rheumatologist Association. Its hard to get the receptionest to answer the phone to make an appointment and Dr. Mease is very busy but he has great PA's who are very knowledgeable. They are a no-nonsense group and will definately help you.

I disagree about Dr. Overman. He is egotistical, interrupts while you are talking, is hesitant to prescribe pain meds, and gives lengthy lectures about adhering to his program, even if you can't do it due to pain. He treated me like I was an idiot and then "punted" me to another doctor because he couldn't figure out what was going on. He also said I didn't have undifferentiated seronegative sponyloarthropathy because I didn't have any inflammotory markers in my blood tests. Isn't that the definition of seronegative?

Seronegative ususally means you tested negative to gene markers for disorders.

Actually, NWbrooktrout, "seronegative" refers to the fact that patients with these diseases have negative blood test results for rheumatoid factors. Genetic testing is in a different category.