Still In Back Pain See Post #13

[Karen]

I am sorry you are having such trouble. Be persistent, and work with people you trust to find a doctor that can both help, and who cares. You need to be your own advocate here, and while that's just adding to the stress which I am sure adds to the pain, it will be worth it in the long run.

Do look around, there are more places that specialize in pain management and a lot of work is being done in that area.

You'll be in our prayers.

[Laura's Babies]

Some doctors just should not even be doctors. They tell us to be sure to tell the doctors everything but they don't tell us HOW to MAKE them listen! Even if they do, they just brush you off anyway.

I would find another doctor but don't get your hopes up that the next one will be any better. I tried that and got one even worse... except for my eye doctor, I did do better with that one.

I find when it comes to pain, they can't see it, touch it, have it show up on any test, therefore, it isn't really bad, you just want drugs.... It seems to be all about the money these days.. "Oh? You not feeling better? Ok, come back in 3 months... That will be $157, pay the receptionist as you leave..... NEXT!

[K9karen]

Too bad you don't live closer to Phila., 'cause i LOVE, WORSHIP & ADORE my ortho. He primarily does spines. The patients in the waiting room call him "Saint Sutton". He's amazing, compassionate, caring, concerned. I commented on his bedside manner, and he said he was just a normal person. Yeah...doing extraordinary stuff. He gave me my life back. The problems I have now have nothing to do with where he operated. It's just a continuing degenerative problem sneaking up and down my spine. He won't operate unless necessary. I just had an epidural and he insists I him call 2 weeks later. He has patients from all over. His reputation is unbelievable.

I feel for your pain and the situation you had. Listen, I've changed my primary doc because he's a jerk. I looked around until I found a gem. It's my body and money. I would (and have) freaked out . I hope you find satisfaction.

[moosmom]

Melissa,

Look for a new surgeon is a very wise move. Doctors always overbook their appointments. I give my doctors a 15 minute margin from my actual appointment time. I refuse to sit in an cold examining room. Don't get me wrong, emergencies come up. But to force someone to sit, IN PAIN (I also have sciatica and it's excruciating) for that long a time is just plain wrong. I have no problem getting up and walking out. I've done it before and it gets their attention REAL fast when there's one less paying patient to see.

I always call my doctor's office to see if he's running late. He usually is, so I plan ahead by bringing a book (doctor's offices never have any good mags to read) along with my mp3 player.

Melissa, I feel your pain, believe me!!! Tell your old surgeon you want a copy of your entire file (it is YOUR file and you are entitled to it by law) and find one that will listen to you and what you've gone through.

I went to a doctor to manage my anti-depression meds in Michigan a few years back. She was reading a file and said, "So I see you're having problems with sexual disfunction."

I said, "Whaaaat????" She said, "Yes, you're on such and such meds and your main complaint was your sexual drive." I said, "Um, NO"

It turns out she was reading another patient's chart (DUH!!) I ran (not walked) to the nearest exit, after requesting my entire file.

[pomtzu]

Melissa...

Sometimes it's better just to go to the top, and leave these local doctors alone.

I know it might be a distance for you to travel, but maybe you should check in to a reputable orthopaedic center or university teaching hospital. After 2 different local surgeons left me nearly crippled, I sought help at the Univ of Md Hosp Spine Center in Baltimore. It was nearly a 2 hour drive from here, but I had nothing to lose, and without the help and surgery I received there, I would have been crippled to the point of being in a wheel chair for life - or worse. This is an excellent place, and I'd be glad to give you more info if you want.

There is also the Rothman Institute in Philadelphia, and Penn State Hershey Medical Center (which I believe is closer to you) with a wonderful orthopaedic department. And in cases such as yours, sometimes a chiropractor just makes matters worse.

Don't let it go too long before you do something, since the longer you wait, the worse it will get, and it can be potentially crippling.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Daisy and Delilah]

While I was reading your story, I had to check and see if you were from Florida. It sounds exactly like most of my doctors here. My doctors didn't/don't seem to care unless it involved big money(surgery)for them.

I'm still plagued with alot of problems that are practically crippling me and all of them have written me off. Write the rx's, pass the buck, bla bla bla. They all seem to be the same. A person is left with disabilities that keep them from leading a normal life and just because they say, "you've been treated", that's what everybody believes and stays with. God forbid they should ask the patient how they really feel. In these cases, who gives the doctor such authority to always be right and have the last word? If the doctor/s are worthy, I have no problem with them being in charge. Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be the norm in alot of areas.

If anybody wants to know what's wrong with healthcare in this country, this is one of the big ones. The doctors are complacent, uncaring, money hungry, arrogant, and take no time to learn about their patients.

It's such a shame that you took such care in keeping records about your own health issues and no one had enough respect to listen to you. I am so sorry and able to relate completely. You look forward to that doctor visit for weeks, only to find out they didn't seem to be as interested as you were.

Wow!! This hits close to home.

[Anikaca77]

Karen-

Thank you so much for saying a pray, I appreciate it.



Laura-

Thank you for taking the time to write to me. I hope the next one will be better, I recently had to travel out of this area to get diagnosed with endometriosis (a surgeon here in my area did a laparoscopic in 1998 and they gyno took pictures which I never saw till recently and when I went to see a doctor in Hershey he came in and told me that I have endometriosis and it’s right here in this picture) and I was so mad I can’t even tell u how upset I was at that point because the surgeon who did my surgery never believed me).

The surgeon I saw yesterday wanted me to reschedule in 6 weeks and I just told the appt. secretaries that I will have to call in to schedule.



K9Karen-

I wish I could travel to Philly, but it’s about 3 ½ hours away and that would probably mean taking a full day off of work, which at the moment I can’t do.
Your ortho sounds like a great person. If I can’t find anyone that I feel is good enough I will have to contact you to get his name and number.



Donna-

Sciatica pain is excruciating, mine has gone away for now which is really great but this tailbone issue is the worst. I was tempted to leave but I was looking for someone to listen to me and understand how bad my pain has been this past month. Luckily, I did get a copy of the x-rays they took and I may get a copy of the other papers but I know they will charge me for them of course.

I would have run out on that doctor as well. I can’t believe that. My co-worker had a similar issue with one of her kid’s doctors. I understand doctors can get very busy and emergency’s pop up but coming in the room and acting like my pain is all gone is just insane.

Thanks for writing!



Pomtzu-

Thank you so much for writing to me. As you see what I wrote to Laura, I had to go to Hershey Medical Center in order to find someone who will listen to me and he treated me like a person and I was really glad I made that trip.

I’m so glad you were able to find help. I don’t know what it is about local doctors at all; I may try at least one other doctor around here maybe before going to Hershey or someplace else.

I wish I wasn’t so far from Baltimore but I may end up considering it if nothing semi-locally comes up.

I don’t think the chiropractor helped my condition really and I’m not going back to him. I’m looking at some spine doctors and trying to find one locally if possible if not I’ll look at Hershey.

Thanks you for taking the time to write to me.



Daisy and Delilah-

I’m so sorry for all the troubles you’ve had with doctors as well. You couldn’t have said this any better “God forbid they should ask the patient how they really feel”.

I had one person from a yahoo group tell me that whoever suggested keeping a track of your pain is clueless and I was just like are you kidding me, well that was me because I kept a track of my pain with the cramps I was getting with the endometriosis so I could inform the doctors that I was having pain almost every day otherwise I might of said that it wasn’t around too much or something like that.

Thanks for writing to me. I will say some prays for you.


Melissa