Welcome to the site,

When I was working, and going through all the pain, the doctors procedures, I too had trouble getting the to fill out the paper work, and when they would they would always add dumb stuff, like for how long would put unkown, and my company had to have a date, you could always get it renewed, grrrr,,,,, then there was the doc that said take these pill, they will help, you wont need the time off, I am so with you,
Yes it is saheful on thier part, the have NO idea who some of us have to work,and suffer, and worry becouse of fear of loosing job, and the fiddle over a simple paper,,,,

Oh ya , on doc even questioned me about it,and I tried so hard to explain, I don't get paid when I am off, but it saves my butt, is not counted against me as time off, and it is fruesteraitng isn't it, like we are begging for something we docn't have a right to, grrr

Keep telling them you NEED these papers filled, it bs that they not want to do them, or are so ignorant about them,,,
I must stop typing before I go on my rant on your post, lol
Hugs
Eve

I just don't understand what I did to make him "fire" me as a patient. Both times I met with him he mentioned working with me long term and went over next steps... none of which ever involved a surgeon or surgery.

Then BAM! He can't help me anymore after 2 visits and sents me back to the surgeon who didn't want to see me to begin with?

At this point, I have about 20 days worth of meds, and I don't even know who to go to for my next refill!

I did schedule an appointment with another spine clinic for a 2nd opinion. Maybe that will get me sonewhere. But I'll tell you, if I didn't have a wife and kids counting on me, I really don't know how if I'd be able to bear all of this.

That does seem strange. Do you think it was the mention of the FMLA that changed his attitude?

I would get an opinion from a fellowship-trained orthopedic spinal surgeon, if I were you. Even if your spondylolisthesis is stable, it probably is compressing the nerve. Conservative treatments may or may not help, if that is the case.

I know in my case, no amount of PT or ESIs were going to create enough room for the nerve to pass through freely.

I would take this opportunity to find a new specialist.

Not much time before I have to book, but I wanted to say you are not alone. Unfortunately, we can very rarely understand where our health care workers are coming from (I.E., why do we spend so much time in the hospital for testing when all we really wanted was to get our BP down?), so we ask questions, and they evade, and eventually throw us out on our bums.

Not saying this is true for all and for everything, but how unfortunate that it happens even once! To anyone!

Many doctors have trained us not to ask questions, so we, in turn must turn around and retrain ourselves to ask them. It's our life, our bodies, we deserve a say, and to understand why they do what they do.

IMO, you should keep calling that Physiatrist until you have answers. Use legal terms when they start hard-balling you... maybe something will get under their skin to at LEAST give you an explanation for their (yes, I will say it) inability to admit that they lack the understanding needed to treat you fairly, and for Gods sake, fill out one SINGLE DA*& form!

Good luck, and keep us posted!

I can not stress this enough! Call your PCP NOW!
When they started screwing me around I went to him.
He was reluctant at first, but after an ER doc called him and ripped him a new one for not resuming treatment of me when my Ortho stopped he stepped up and has been great every since then! He has even admitted to me as my PCP it is HIS JOB to make sure I am getting treatment if no one else is doing it.

So, call your PCP and get an appt to get whatever referrals etc you need. If he won't do it then you have a problem, but he should do it.

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At this point I think you have two choices:

1 - Get back with the physiatrist explaining all the problems you are having. Ask what other conservative treatments are available and what about the spinal injections? If you do not get any
satisfaction, then politely ask him WHY? Depending on how that goes, I would then also ask the doctor " Do you want me as a patient or not?"

2 - Find another set of doctors that we be willing to work with you..

Many times it is the PCP who can find and recommend the best specialist

Sleep is very important as part of any healing process. Lack of sleep can just stop any recovery.
Benadryl is a good option, however there are many people that get hyped up on Benadryl. I use it nitely because I have adverse reactions to sleep aids such as ambien

Good luck

Thank you for the supportive posts. They help!

Here is my plan at this point. On Tuesday, I have an appointment with the surgeon that the physiatrist referred me to. We will see how that goes. Then I have another appointment with a new physiatrist at a completely different clinic (the one the professional athletes in my area often go to) and hopefully I can get a good 2nd opinion there. So with those 2 appts, I should have more info by week's end.

If I am still lost then, I will go to my PCP. I am not sure if this is good or bad, but my PCP is my brother-in-law. Up until this point, I just acted like any other patient with him, but I could always call him at home or sick my wife on him. haha.

In the meantime, this weekend we had a family trip planned for 4 days. After 2 I had to come home. I feel so bad doing that to my 4 and 8 yr old daughters. They are very understanding about it (as is my wife) but it still hurts me to have to short-change them like that. makes me tear up just typing that...