The stool idea for getting up sounds good but I can't get "down" without hurting myself in the process. Getting up is not possible without something to pull myself up.

I don't describe my problem as numbness any more. I call it altered sensation. When the Neuro sticks pins in I can't really feel anything other than a pressure sensation (so I can feel it, it's not numb) but if I stand on the smallest speck of gravel in my socks it feels like I've stood on a nine inch nail. When I broke my toe, I didn't know I'd broken it until I mentioned to my Neuro that I'd bumped my toe and it's been really itchy since then. Apparently pain can be perceived as an itch with Neuro conditions.

I looked it up and it's called allodynia (or something like that).

Different meanings to various terms make me crazy sometimes.

When I get asked if I have "tingling" my answer is NO. I have electrical shocks. Tingling to me is like the pins and needles feeling you get when something like your foot goes to sleep because the circulation was cut off. A very different feeling than when my nerves are mis-firing and I feel like body parts have been plugged into an electrical outlet.

I find communicating "pain" is a very difficult and confusing matter to both the patient and the physician.

Good morning !
 

That's an interesting question. Medicine is, and has always been, a sellers' market—there are more patients than there are doctors to adequately serve them.

shortage of doctors

This suggests that they certainly don't need us (as patients) and that a strong motive for wanting us is increasing their income. More complicated cases mean more doctor visits, more testing, more treatments, etc. A doctor once confessed to me that he wasn't concerned about losing his job because of the money his (kind of/particular) patients brought in to the entity he worked for.

OTOH, as "Doctor Rob" wrote (paraphrased and oversimplified) in his Letter to Patients With Chronic Disease, some doctors want patients that they can help rather than those they cannot.

This isn't to say that doctors don't care, or are totally mercenary, but the economics & prestige cannot be denied.

In searching highest paying professions, careers in healthcare invariably dominate every list (aside from CEOs).

I cannot imagine a doctor responding to the question, "Do you want me as a patient?" with, "Yes, but only for the money," but sadly, that may be the reality of the situation for some.

I've always advocated an interview as part of the vetting process for selecting a new doctor—I do it myself—and many articles are available on that very subject.

interviewing a new doctor

I think the question is a good one, but may not even be necessary depending on how other answers/things go in the interview(?) :Dunno:

Doc

When my old GP retired and I was looking for a new one I looked up the Medical Registration Board for any previous complaints and or conditions of practice.

When I first went to my current GP, I told him I was interviewing him because I needed a GP with specific interests and ethics. He appeared to be a bit confused at my forthrightness but he answered my questions. I had some reservations but overall his answers were just what I was looking for. Importantly, he agreed to be my advocate in the event that I was unable to speak for myself. He is a devout Muslim and I thought that might conflict with some of my wishes but so far we have had a meeting of the minds and I think we have developed a mutual respect.

Now, I just have to find a Neuro with the ability to string two words together and the personality to communicate those two words and I'll be ahead of the game.

Thanks Dr Smith :)