Abby Flinchbaugh, PA-C

I had been dealing with persistent upper body pain for a year when I got an appt. with Abby. I was pretty desperate as my pain did not feel normal for me. Unluckily for me, I have had anxiety in the past and my chart reflected that. Abby saw this (I saw her read it on the screen) and after that, all of my concerns were diluted down to 'anxiety,' despite the fact that my anxiety is not and has never been severe, that I was already in therapy, and that I don't even take meds for anxiety due to it being manageable. She told me to meditate and hang in there. A year later, I have been diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. If I'd been properly heard a year ago, I could have started physical therapy then — I felt so dismissed that it took months for me to go back to the doctor and I did so after crying in pain on the phone with Kaiser. Some people apparently don't like to do their job and would rather take shortcuts from the chart to dismiss real concerns.