[ATallOne]

Hmmmmmm.., your thinking what??? That doesn't make much sense, but after I tell you of my day yesterday, I bet it will.


Since last Wedneday my pain levels in my legs from my hips to my toes started bothering me more than usual. By Sunday I was a total mess!

So I decided to go to my primary care doctor who I haven't been to in a while but I hadn't the need to go until now. So I get there at 11:00. First they tell me they have no records of me ever being seen at this clinic. Second, they said they never heard of me and had never seen me before.

Now this is not a small community and I wouldn't expect them to remember everyone regardless but I was just there 6 months ago with shingles.

Well I didn't go there to get meds, I had plenty. I just wanted to know why my pain levels could be so aggravated and why I was sweating 24/7.

It took me 40 minutes at least just to get it through there heads that I was not looking for drugs. I wanted to thump them at that point. So 30 minutes after that they tell me I will need to go to the emergency room because they are just a clinic, and they cannot give out the kinds of drugs I take. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

I was not looking for drugs dang it! They made me feel embarrased and almost ashamed of myself for even going there.

So. Now I am at the emergency room. 4 count em 4 hours later I finally get in to see a doctor. I'll be danged if he didn't treat me the same way. And....Ready for this????

According to the ER Doc RSD and CRPS are two totally different problems. I could have sworn that CRPS is the new name for RSD because now RSD is found to be REGIONAL rather than coralled into one area.

He tells me...READY? "Well sir you definitely do not have RSD because if you did you would only have it in one part of the body". "It is impossible for RSD to affect the upper as well as the lower extremities at the same time".

I was over it. Ugly and frustrated and tired of being patronized all day and made to feel like nothing more than a two bit junkie...I LEFT.

Simple as that. I just walked out. Undignified is how I felt all day.

What do we have to do to get the same respect as everyone else who is in need of proper health care? Would somebody please tell me?

Well I did what any "Undignified Drug Seeker" suffering from severe pain would do.

I GOT DRUNK!!!! Yuppers I felt so good last night I didn't give a Rat's ***** about pain or doctors. Of course today I have a headache from hell, but my legs feel better! WOOOOHOOOO!!!!

So that is my story and I'm sticking to it.

Chin Up!! Best to All, Mark

[sassy]

I'm sorry you had to go through this humiliation, hang in there.

[bassman]

Mark,

That reminds me of a similar situation. I live in a large city and very close to a major trauma center with an excellent emergency department. A few months ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with shoulder pain so severe I could not lift my arm more than an inch without terrible shooting pain. After struggling to get out of bed, I decided to ask my wife to drive me to the ER.

It turns out that she was doubled over with stomach problems and was about to wake me to drive her to the ER! Well, we ended up calling an ambulance for transport. When we got to the hospital, we were put in separate rooms.

She received lots of attention immediately. They took tests, did a full work-up, the whole works. On the other hand, I was pretty much ignored. I was told to lie on a hard bed. I could barely climb up because of the shoulder pain, but had no assistance, no lowering of the bed. I was given no pillow, call button, and could not reach the phone (it rang several times – but people walking by never stopped in.) The bed was so uncomfortable my arm hurt even worse. I had a very cursory exam by a nurse and after a long time, had a short visit by a doctor who did no exam of the shoulder.

I was asked by more than one person – triage nurse, doctor, and other personnel – why I came there when my regular doctor normally practices at another hospital way across town. They seemed to resent that I was there. The ER was very slow. When I climbed out of bed to walk down the hall to the men’s room, (again with no assistance because I had no call button) most of the staff was gathered in the nurse’s station watching TV and discussing the Packers!

All I wanted was to have my shoulder looked at by someone who knew what they were doing to make sure there was nothing serious going on. When this happened to me several years ago, a different ER rushed an EKG because shoulder pain is one of the warning signs of a heart attack.

I finally figured out they were rude because someone had decided I was just a junkie looking for drugs. When they were preparing to discharge me after literally doing nothing for five hours, the doctor sheepishly offered to write a script for three or four Tylenol 3. I said “no thanks I have plenty of much more powerful stuff at home.” It seemed like he was surprised to hear that.

Needless to say, I immediately called the ER supervisor when I got home and also composed a letter of complaint to the hospital administrator.

Sorry this is such a long post, but Mark’s story triggered the memory of that indignity and prompted the rant.

Mark – I hear you, buddy.

Mike

[gamgam]

This is so sad. Really, it breaks my heart at how people are treated in what is supposed to be a civilized country. What is happening to the medical community?? And just simple empathy for someone that is suffering?

I know from being in the medical field (when I was able to work) that you have to develop a frame of mind so that you can handle all the bad things you see. But since when do people who are suppose to care for others just stop caring at all? I have nurses in my family as well and we discuss this attitude often. I plead with them to please do not let yourself become so uncaring. When you feel yourself getting that way, I think its time to get another job.

I know exactly what you are talking about and I will not go to the ER at all. I do not feel I am mentally stable enough to be treated that way. I am just being honest here. I have already dealt with the treatment of the degrading drug seeker when you have done nothing to warrant that kind of treatment. It makes me ashamed to even tell anyone that I have chronic pain.....especially doctors! Isn't that pathetic?

I do not have any answers but I do have many concerns for all of us.

[Linmarie]

Wow, I can say "been there, done that." I am having such a terrible flare that I would have gone to the ER yesterday but I know how they are & refuse to go through that again. Can't get into my PM for a week and a half, I did what Mark did - had a couple of glasses on wine. Amazing how so many people are so anti-drug (which really can give us some relief) & think we are drug seekers when they have absolutely no clue what our pain is like but we can just go buy achohol. I'm in such a terrible state of pain & have been for two and a half weeks. Sometimes I think the medical personnel don't know what to do with RSD so they just pass us off.
Hope you're feeling better.
Linmarie

[theMatrix777]

You need a new doctor.

[Desi]

Hi Mark!
I too, am so sorry about what you went through! I can't even begin to imagine the horror! You had an incredibly stupid ignorant Dr. to have said that RSD and CRPS are two totally different problems. And to say It is impossible for RSD to affect the upper as well as the lower extremities at the same time. Who does he think he's talking to?? Oh, excuse me... this idiot is a Mr. all knowing jackass jerk who needs some education on RSD! The nerve of the idiot. Again, Im so sorry, Mark. You did the right thing by walking out. What ever happened to "Plain 'ol good bedside manners"? There are so many doctors who are burnt out and they take it out on their patients. This is sad but so true. That is why I quit going to my old family doc. and am now seeing a doc. who is in with two otheres just incase. Well, chin up as your siggy says, Mark. ~Love, Desi

[finz]

Hi....

I'm a new lurker here after finally getting a RSD dx to go with my TOS. I had a similar run in with the doctor at my local pain clinic who informed me that there was no way I had TOS because my pain is mostly in my neck/shoulder area, not my collarbone. Ummm.....sure

I hope that when you get the chance, you copy an article on RSD/CRPS and mail that to the hospital administrator.

I have no problem when medical say they have to look something up. I'm a nurse myself, and I know I don't know everything, so frequently I had to research a new treatment or drug. But when they try to pass themselves off as an expert in an area where they clearly have no clue......that just makes my blood boil

Have you had any luck with your regular MD figuring out what caused the increase in pain ? And, how did your wife do ?

[bassman]

Originally Posted by finz

Hi....

I'm a new lurker here after finally getting a RSD dx to go with my TOS. I had a similar run in with the doctor at my local pain clinic who informed me that there was no way I had TOS because my pain is mostly in my neck/shoulder area, not my collarbone. Ummm.....sure

I hope that when you get the chance, you copy an article on RSD/CRPS and mail that to the hospital administrator.

I have no problem when medical say they have to look something up. I'm a nurse myself, and I know I don't know everything, so frequently I had to research a new treatment or drug. But when they try to pass themselves off as an expert in an area where they clearly have no clue......that just makes my blood boil

Have you had any luck with your regular MD figuring out what caused the increase in pain ? And, how did your wife do ?

Thanks for asking. We still don't know what caused the acute pain that day. After about three days, it went down to "normal" levels. Unfortunately, I can't get an MRI because of a spinal card stimulator. Doctors seem to rely on that tool so very much these days...

My wife has recovered from her gastritis. She is now seeing a gastroenterologist, but is doing much better.

Interesting thing about this hospital -- it is HUGE! This is the second or third largest teaching hospital in the state, and integrated with the only medical college in the area. They have a well respected pain management clinic, etc. etc. But at 5:00 am, the ER just didn't feel like working if someone wasn't bleeding or otherwise leaking fluids onto the floor.

Hugs

Mike

[theMatrix777]

When I asked my pain management doctor if in a "pain" emergency should I go to ER, he said NO. He said they would not help me or give me anything with all the medicine I take now they would be afraid to.

So, even he knows how they treat patients like us. They view us drug-seekers; and that's from my my own doctor! Doesn't leave us much choice, does it....