Fathima Syed, MD

When I started seeing Dr. Syed years ago, I was in terrible shape. My anti-depression meds weren't working, my RA and fibro were not under control, my anxiety was a mess, and I was having so much trouble with fatigue. I'm an emotional eater so because of all this, I had reached 260 pounds from a combination of not being able to do anything and binge eating because of how bad I felt, which of course aggravated everything, gave me high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and high cholesterol. It also triggered my body into Diabetes 2. Dr. Syed took a look at all these problems and we slowly started implementing changes. She recommended specialists for each individual problem I had and I followed her direction and theirs. It took a few years, but under her direction and care, I have my Diabetes, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and high cholesterol under control. My chronic conditions have improved as much as they can and I no longer suffer with daily pain, just intermittent pain. My fatigue, which is the bane of my existence, is better, although not completely perfect, and I've lost 77 pounds, slowly, which is the best way to do it. In addition, I love Dr. Syed's bedside manner and her staff is friendly and engaging. When I was in the hospital for pneumonia a few years ago, Dr. Syed checked in on me every day to make sure I was improving, and I know I can call her if I have an emergency, which fortunately, I have never had. I'm just so happy with Dr. Syed and my experiences with MDVIP in general. Many thanks to your organization and so much gratitude for Dr. Syed.

Dr Syed is the most caring Dr I have ever had.

My niece, a high school science teacher, frantically called me when her daughter, Lyanna's preschool was going to close two weeks before school let out. I was able to go and help keep Lyanna so that she and her husband didn't have to miss work. The cold that was going around the preschool came home with Lyanna and we all got it. Lyanna and her parents had it for a few days but I had it for a month.

My husband and I were supposed to go to Grand Cayman on a scuba diving trip and the cold was still hanging on so I went to see Dr. Sayed. She gave me medication to try to treat the symptoms and wished me a good trip. On the way out the door she turned around and reluctantly said that she would like for me to go and get a chest x-ray. We were leaving the next morning but I managed to get the x-ray on the way home.

That afternoon Dr. Sayed called me to say that the chest x-ray looked pretty good except for one place that looked like a small spot on my lung that could just be a shadow. We were able to set up a chest CT right after we returned from Cayman (their first available) and the spot was definitely not a shadow. Subsequent testing and showed that it was lung cancer but we had caught it very early.

Our local cancer center was able to verify the cancer and remove that lobe of my lung, eliminating the cancer.

That trip to Cayman was pretty emotional. I remember a dive along a beautiful reef with so many beautiful tropical fish swimming around me and I started crying, thinking that I might never see that beautiful underwater scenery again. I am lucky that I am a pretty positive person because I quickly followed that thought up with one of "then you should quit crying and enjoy the beauty."

Most lung cancers are caught when the patient has symptoms related to it and their chances of survival are 50-50. Because we caught it SO early the cancer eliminated all of the cancer and I didn't require any additional treatment. I still get CTs yearly to make sure that it doesn't come back and to catch it early if it does but I am still alive, kicking and staying very active.

All because of Lyanna's day care closing and my amazing doctor, Dr. Fatima Sayed.

We knew Dr Syed before she joined MDVIP. My wife was hospitalized after a stroke and Dr. Syed was serving as an intensivist on the neuro wing. Several intensivists visited my wife during her stay. Dr. Syed always spent time with my wife, clearly sincerely assessing her condition, taking time to discuss her situation with me. This was unlike the other intensivists who breezed in, cursorily checked my wife and the chart, only reluctantly listened to me about my wife's condition, and hastened away. When my wife was ready for discharge, it didn't occur to the neurologist team to determine that an essential medication was available in the local pharmacies. When the pharmacies told us that they didn't have the essential medication, we were devastated - my wife so eager to return home and so disappointed when the medication couldn't be found. Seeing our distress, Dr. Syed started calling possible sources herself to try to find a supply. She knew how much the discharge meant to us and did everything she could to try to get us home as soon as possible. That was quite beyond what anyone else in the hospital was willing to do. So, with that exemplary service, you can imagine the joy we felt when we learned she was joining our MDVIP practice. Her ethic of service, of caring for her patients as fully as she can, of compassion and understanding have continued as strongly during our years with her at MDVIP. We have been so blessed to have Dr. Syed as our primary care physician. I am certain that our lives will be longer and better under her care.