Thursday morning, Tanya and I headed out to Beverly Hills and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to visit a new rheumatologist, Dr. Mariko Ishimori, MD. After Tanya’s last experience with Dr. Forouzesh she decided that she could not handle the stress of having a doctor that changed attitudes and commentary with each visit. The fact that he had been giving her Cimzia as samples that were already allocated to other patients was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I was not really sure what to expect as we entered the Steven Spielberg Building and our introduction to Dr. Ishimori.

As it was our first visit, I will not go into much depth other that to say that there were additional blood tests ran and an appointment with an endocrinologist was set to check out the issues she is having with glands in her neck. I will make a few observations though. For one thing, Dr. Ishimori’s office ran with clock-like precision. When they say an appointment will start at 10:20 and will lat an hour, it actually starts at 10:20 and lasts an hour. Confidential patient files were not lying all over the counter at Dr. Ishimori’s office. Everyone acted quite professional. I remember thinking that is was almost like Spielberg was directing everything so that there was this precision.

Dr. Ishimori not only took the time to take a very extensive history of Tanya’s past, but she did something I never saw Dr. Forouzesh do; she actually took the time to feel and look at all of Tanya’s joints. Hands, elbows, toes, knees, neck and whatever else that moved. Contrary to Dr. Forouzesh’s assessment that the Cimzia was not going to work, Dr. Ishimori determined that the Cimzia seemed to be doing exactly what it should be doing. That is why a visit with an endocrinologist was set up; perhaps there is more going on than just the RAD (Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease).

The watermark on the photos was donated to the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, the only charity specifically for those suffering from RA.