Hi, Deb

[Guest guest]

Deb, hi, I'm , from Indiana, and I just read your post.

I'm not sure where you are from, so I can't tell where your

docs are, but I CAN give you the benefit, for whatever it's

worth, of my own experience with pain management docs,

as well as some advice from someone who is, I expect, old

enough to at least be your mum, if not your grandmum!

Let me get a minor " housekeeping " suggestion out of the

way first: Not sure what your Email program is, but I

think maybe your Spellcheck option is not activated,

because your posts are very difficult for these old eyes to

read! If you need to know how to activate this option, (as I

did) let me tell you how mine works, and maybe yours is

similar or the same, OK? Here goes:

FIRST, Go to the Options selection, then go to Email

Preferences, then go to Spellcheck Options, and in

THAT menu, click on the box that says " Always check

spelling before sending " and make sure that box is

checked. The, click OKAY. From then on, this option

will, when you click SEND, automatically highlight any

words that run together, mistyped words, etc. and you

can " fix " them for us before they go out. I'm not much of

a typist, and that option has saved me many a time! I also

have Myasthenia Gravis, as well as CP, so my eyes tire easily,

and I want to read what you send us, and at least give you

some comfort by knowing you are not alone in the problems

that you are having.

Now: Here, in Indiana, and elsewhere, I've heard, all docs are

getting hypersensitive to pain control issues, and delivering

narcotics. I had a lovely doc for many years, and she knew me

well enough to know that I would avoid AT ALL COSTS calling

her unless I was on my knees, doubled over in pain! So, I would

call her first when the pain got too much to handle, and she

would call ahead to the ER, and have them red-tag my wrist

immediately on arrival at the ER, and admit me STAT for pain

control treatment. They would administer Demerol right there

in the hallway, while I was still filling out the admit papers!

But, all good things must come to an end, she retired, and the

doc who took her place was cold, insensitive and suspicious. I

always felt like a sub-human life form when I would ask her for

adequate pain meds! She finally refused altogether to prescribe

pain meds for me, and told me to go see a PM specialist. I asked

her for a referral and she said to use the Yellow Pages! Yeah, she

was a really caring physician, huh? So, I remembered that there

was a PM specialist about three doors down from her office, and

I went in there and made an appointment with him. He, to make

a long story short, had me so drugged up that I could not even sit

up by myself, and had to be half-carried, half-dragged to the bath

room! I went into a major drug overdose, my daughter took me to

the ER, and this guy " disappeared " , refusing to answer two days'

worth of pages by the ER staff, so all they had was my word for it

that what I had been taking was actually exactly what had been

prescribed! One doc came out and told me she thought I had put

on too many patches, and was " doctor-hopping " , looking for more

drugs! ME, a Carmel grandmother, who would not know how to go

about finding " street drugs " if I wanted to! In the ER, they told my

frantic family they had never SEEN anyone as " toxic " as I was, and

had me labeled as a pathetic drug addict! One even said she would

question my dx altogether! And she was not even as OLD as my

original dx was!!!

Eventually, I picked up the newspaper one morning and learned that

my PM doc had been convicted of major drug abuse, overprescribing

his patients, and was now in Federal Prison, his doors padlocked by

the US Marshall's Office! So, after going through no fewer than four

MORE PM docs, I FINALLY came to realize that, at least here, getting

pain control is a very dicey proposition, and knew then that I had to

make SURE that, in future, it would be in my own best interests to be

terribly careful how I acted and what I said when dealing with pain

breakthrough episodes. It was a harsh lesson to learn.

A huge amount of real damage can be done to a patient with chronic

pain, and I do mean psychological as well as physical damage, by a

medical community more concerned about the cost of malpractice ins.

than with the care of their patients. I even had one doctor admit to

exactly that, and she then informed me she would not be treating me

any longer!

I also had to leave the practice of the top CP guy here in Indiana,

because all he wanted was to do more and more surgeries, even when

we both knew they had almost NO chance of succeeding!! I sometimes

wish I had not changed docs because, eventually, someone who ends

up with a long list of docs in their medical history, and appears to be

very well informed as to medical procedures, well, that person LOOKS

to an ER or a new doc like a hypochondriac, or a drug addict, even when

their illness IS well-documented, legitimate, and their pain is very

real.

The perceive us as a lawsuit on legs walking in their door.

You mentioned going to a counselor - good for you! But I might suggest

to you that you ask him/her on your next visit whether you might have

your family participate in group therapy sessions with you, if those are

offered by your pain mgmt team. It's vital that the people around you

are fully informed as to your medical and psychological needs. You need

to avoid the stress that is generated by knowing that you are misunder-

stood.

One more piece of " free " advice for you, and others who, like you and I,

get terribly upset by the overwhelming feelings of frustration and anger

over mistreatment by professionals: TRY your very BEST to take a deep

breath, close your eyes a second, then, make any complaints you have

in a firm, but calm and unemotional voice. BELIEVE me, you will be taken

MUCH more seriously, and not run the risk of sounding like you are not up

to giving a reliable report of the situations that have caused you so

much

anguish. Remember, psychiatrists and physicians are trained from day

one to be unemotional, and they respond ever so much better when you

can manage to be the same. Just tell the facts, then say " I need your

help

in handling this problem. " Hey, this is where they LIVE, and this WORKS,

I am here to tell you, as I had to learn this the HARD way, being myself

a redheaded Irish girl with a temper!

It's not fair, but I've learned that it's up to us to get what we need,

no one

will do it for us.

Deb, I hope this has helped, and here's hoping your week goes better,

and you get all the help and care that you need and deserve!

Blessings to you, in Indy