Fiona said it all! (with the extra benefit of 'staying on top of your Dr' )

Couldn't have said it better myself!
VERY wisdom-filled girl!!

Hi Tara

Im a newbie here in the past week, I too have a SCS implant in the past 3 weeks , so early days for me.

I been reading your posts and boy have you had so much to deal with in your short life. I hope that you get to see your new Pain Dr ASAP. Its soooo frustating when you find out that ,hey my old DR should have sent on a referral and then they didnt!! that makes me soooo mad And you know at times you do have to DO IT YOURSELF and annoy them so much that they will be sick of your calls and requests and they will get the job done

Good luck with your new Dr and I pray that you will have relief very soon too..

Jackie

I am back again (sorry) because I ended up in another argument with another doctor office because they did not have my records. The lady was extremely rude and told me that if I did not have my records in 24 hours (appt was supposed to be tomorrow) I could not have my appointment! I told her that this appt was important and I wanted to even see if I wanted to continue treatment with this new doctor and just at least talk with her about options and stuff. She then told me this was not a meet and greet and that I would not be able to talk to the doctor at all without those records! I have never been treated like this and I even explained to her that I had given my release to everyone else and that they were supposed to fax it over. I then took a breath and said I would call her back. I decided that I was over this whole thing where receptionists and doctors are allowed to treat me bad and I called her office back and basically told her that I did not appreciate being talked to that way and that I was going to find another doctor, this was the first time I have ever had to do anything like this regarding a receptionist or doctor. I was so angry I was shaking! I am so sick of all of my doctors or front desk people not following through on anything because meanwhile I get worse and feel worse. And it makes things worse when the front desk people or doctors treat you like you are bothering them and you should not even be there! ARGHHHHH!!!! I have to call tomorrow to find out if my new pain doctor even got a referral and if not (again) I am going to have to talk to that other office again I wish they would get it together! I mean, I am having a rough time as it is dealing with constant pain, my stim not charging right, hardly sleeping, and still trying to function and do my schoolwork! This whole episode is why I get nervous to see or talk to new doctors in the first place Just thought I would share that I had to get this out. It just gets me that people in healthcare (who are supposed to want to help us) get to treat us like dirt, I treated people better than I get treated (at the doctor) back when I was in sales and working! I guess I just expect to much from them or people that are supposed to help me. Oh well, I guess I have to get used to firing doctors

z

Z
Mark56

Next time you are up against a rude %^&*# receptionist,......do the intimidation stare......keep calm, then look at her badge and ask her name.
Then say you'd like to see her supervisor.

If all else fails, tell them all where they can stick their 'Meet and Greet' and let them know that your team of NT buttbuzz warriors will be making a grand entrance to show them what a MEET and GREET is really all about when dealing with a crew of people racked with PAIN!!!

I'm sorry you are dealing with this. Sometimes we HAVE to be a bit intimidating to get the right kind of respect.
Go above that receptionist's head. She could use a nice refreshing reminder from her higher ups that she is not performing her duties up to par.

I've even used the words "My Attorney will need documentation as to why...."........alot of times THAT will get them to sit up straight and get the ball rolling. NObody wants to have to deal with answering to a legal issue.!

Just some thoughts

I call it 'tough love'

Yep, those words you have "even used" tend to strike sanity into otherwise insane situations. People have used them referring to me, and I shook my head responding that I don't just go around threatening people. But, it does work. I remember dictating a letter of thanks to our O.B. onetime after the birth of one of our children. It went out on the wrong letterhead. Next time we saw the O.B. he was both dead serious and laughing about the havoc a letter from an "ugh" attorney caused, UNTIL they realized its content. Oops.

I drop the attorney bit from my reality unless absolutely necessary as it tends to frighten.

Mark56 PJ

Thank you for the replies. You all really know how to make me smile and I appreciate the support! Yesterday was my husband's birthday so I was busy spending time with him all day and tried to make up for our not so good honeymoon. I am so frustrated right now because I have spent 4 hours trying to charge and it did nothing so now my stim is on sleeping mode which is really bad because that means both legs get screwed up and the pain is even worse. Of course, I still do not have a pain doctor appt yet and of course no one sent my records or did anything. I am so sick of all this and besides that my attorney emailed me to check in on all my doctor stuff and we are going to try to appeal my case again which makes me nervous (I hate the court stuff). I am trying to keep a positive attitude about things so I won't be so much of a burden on everyone but it gets really hard. Tomorrow I have to go a class meeting on campus and I am nervous because well, I always get anxious on campus especially when I have to be in the wheel chair. And then after that I am supposed to go with my husband to one of my old friends from high school' birthday party. I am extremely nervous about that too because I have not been too social since my accident and hardly see my friends (but only a couple are still in my life still) and I am really nervous because they have not seen me like this. I know this is silly to worry about things like that but I do because at least when I had my stim implanted no one could really tell but now I am having to use my walker and chair and I guess it makes me nervous. I have to go and do homework. Have a great weekend everyone

You are going thru a very rough time right now. You are NOT a burden

I hope your weekend goes smoothly.....try not to 'worry' about what others will 'perceive' you as due to your accident. You'd be surprised to know that most people 'perceive' you as a very strong young woman trying and working hard to make your way thru this...
Relax in to it (i know that is easier said than done when in pain )

If people 'seem' a bit uncomfortable around you, it's probably because they want desperately to be able to say the right things of encouragement to you and they may doubt their ability to live up to what you deserve to hear.

I'm glad you've got your attorney working on your behalf
And your husband by your side.

Come here as often as it takes to 'unload'......you'll never be a broken rocord to us.
We are here for you

Rae

Rrae, thank you so much for that reply. It was really funny because I was secretly hoping we would get lost and not find the party but for the first time ever we made it there and I still did not want to go. But, after talking with my husband and he was with me I ended up going and you are right, people were actually nice! In fact, the old friends I had not talked to were nicer and more understanding then the new real time friends that I currently have. It was really fun and I made a new friend too so I am really proud of myself because the old me would have just not gone. Actually what was neat was that "Betsy" is a real conversation piece and everyone was asking me about it lol. And the people I did talk to said that I was brave and very strong to go through all this and still have a positive attitude (which I am getting better at that It was really great to be around people my own age and since we are all turning 30 we shared the whole "its weird turning 30" idea and that made me feel better too. My friend who was having the party was really happy that I made it there and now I really know who my real friends are So, I am going to try to keep this positive and optimism going as I call my new pain doctor tomorrow to check on my referral status. This whole situation has really given me back some hope and made me more determined to go up against these doctors that are not helping and to approach this new doctor with an open mind. I am also working on trying to handle my stress better which its probably worse due to not being in therapy for 3 weeks with the added extra pain and of course the stress with my doctor. I will be back to post again after I get my ct scan results and of course let you all know when I see the pain doctor. Again, thank you all for the support and encouragement! And Rrae all of your smilies in your post always brighten my day