Dr. appointment update and THANK YOU ALL

[Guest guest]

Well......first of all THANK YOU to each and every one of you who offered your

advice and support to me when I asked for it. This group has been such a help to

me, and I have missed it while I was not able to use a computer. I now have my

smart phone all set up so I can keep up with the group (even if the email

addresses are weird...sorry) and am so glad to be back amoung you all, both for

my benifit and to hopefully be a benifit to others.

Now, for the update as to my appointment: I saw my PCP today. I did get what I

wanted from the appointment, but it was VERY frustrating and I was irritated

both with him AND myself. In the end, though, we worked together and got started

on the right path. I had asked for a longer appointment time than usual, and

right off the bat it was obvious that wasn't what he had in mind. My guess is

that he was having a VERY stressful day because after 10 minutes of me telling

him about my back problems that he pretty much poo pood as no big deal two weeks

ago and explaining that he needed to listen to me more as well as I needed to

explain things better, he cut me off and said that he basically had to get on

with other patients so we needed to move this appointment along. (I am

paraphrasing.) He told me I had been going on for 15 minutes and he was the only

doctor in the office that day and he had patients in the ER that needed his

attention. WELL...that was IT...I was so frustrated I could not hold back the

tears. I wasn't bawling, but the tears welled up and I could not hold them back.

Here I was coming to him to tell him he wasn't listening and it was hard for me

to talk to him and he'd just told me he didn't have time to listen to me!!! I

told him it wasn't JUST him, it was ME, TOO. I told him I get frustrated when he

doesn't pay attention the way I need him to, so I don't keep pressing him and

just give up. Then I don't go back until it's way past time to deal with

something. Then I'm completely miserable. I told him I really needed something

for the pain and it was really hard to ask for it. I told him a big part of me

felt like it was wrong to ask for pain medication but I really feel like I need

it. He then stopped and paid attention. I am sure he realized he should not have

said what he said. He told me he understood that I was frustrated. He said if my

pain is from the fibro we may have to go with something like Lyrica. I told him

I hadn't heard good things about it. He mentioned a few different medications

for pain. Some are hard on the kidneys, so he said we should stay away from

those. He gave me a prescription for Tramadol. I took one when I got home and I

do feel better this evening. I will take it for a few days and see how it works.

I have heard good things from people who take it for chronic pain. He also

agreed that I need an MRI on my lumbar and thorasic spine. I am waiting on them

to set up an appointment for that and get back with me. He told me to come see

him as often as I like and we can address whatever issues I need. Before he left

the room, he gave me a pat on the shoulder and told me to make another

appointment for after the MRI so we can discuss the results. Usually he just has

the nurse call with the results. So...all in all, we made progress. I was so mad

at myself for not being able to keep my imotions in check, though.

April