After many years of untreated sciatic pain, I had the worst flare up of my life last August. I didn't have a doctor. A few years earlier I sought help and was accused of being a drug seeker. This made me angry and I told the doctor that via nasty voicemail. I decided I'd rather have pain than be treated like a junkie. As a result, I suffered alone until I lost feeling below my waist.
I went to the emergency room and was diagnosed with Caude Equina. After surgery I felt great. But 2 weeks later I had excruciating pain again and returned to the emergency room. There they refused to give me pain medication, apparently because I was crying so much. I laid there in agony for 7 days before they realized their surgery gave me a staph infection that was in my bone, my bloodstream and inflaming my surgical wound. Yet they still decided to treat me as a drug seeker. It made NO sense. Is that just the easy solution for uninsured people? I had even begun paying them for the other surgery. But they would rather determine I'm a drug addict than look for a source of my pain (in this case it was a surgery at their hospital).
I went home and felt heartbroken and broken period. It took me 6 weeks to be able to walk after the damage the staph did. But I was determined to get better, and again, did not have a doctor.
Recently however, my back has been deteriorating. I went to get an MRI and today took it to a local surgeon who told me: "you need a spinal fusion and will have chronic pain" I figure he'll give me a short term prescription until we can schedule surgery, but he said he wouldn't. I asked him "why?" feeling the pain and anxiety rise up in me. He knows I have chronic pain and won't help me? He said "I don't even know you" and I said "but you just told me I have chronic pain?" he said "well, you need a spinal fusion" and I said "well, what am I supposed to do till then?" and then he went on to say that I was arguing with him over pain pills. NO! I am arguing with him over PAIN. And everything I say seems to trigger "drug seeker" in his eyes. I CANNOT WIN. I cannot get help. I'm so sick of it. I'm 41. Was healthy, happy, newly married. WHY won't any doctor HELP me? Why don't they care? I would rather lie in bed then be forced to explain my pain to one more doctor who doesn't give a crap.
22young4this
Posts: 5
Comments
KB
If the surgeon told you that you need a second surgery, then you need to be aware that most surgeons are not going to provide pain medications to a patient that they don't know, or to someone who is new to them. Even when someone has surgery, the surgeon is only going to take care of the immediate post op pain medications, usually a month or so, depending on the type of surgery the patient has had........then they are going to be referred to pain management. The large majority of surgeons will not write pain medications for patients who come to them for a consult.
Perhaps, try being a bit less emotional and volitile and be willing to try other methods to manage the pain, instead of expecting that the doctors are going to write you prescriptions for opiates and be willing to give other treatments a fair try.
I have had CES twice so far, and while it is painful, once the surgery is done and healed the
body and nerves need time to heal and recover, so perhaps some neuropathic pain medications might be more helpful than opiates for that.
As for the infection, the best treatment opition is antibiotics, to get rid of the infection, but I'm sure that they gave you those in the hospital. All that doctors have to do in regard to complaints of pain is make a reasonable attempt at relieving it........they aren't obligated to give you pain medications. Getting angry because the doctor won't give you pain medications or cursing them out over the phone is going to bite you when it comes to others seeing your medical records. Arguing with the surgeon about wanting pain medications is going to paint a big old red flag on you.....being emotional or hostile is going to paint another big red flag.
Your best option if you are going to be needing longer term management is to consult with a pain management practice, and do all of the recommended treatments and therapies to ease the pain.....
https://www.spine-health.com/forum/treatment/pain-medications/pm-your-first-visit-what-expect-what-ask
https://www.spine-health.com/forum/announcements/spine-health-announcements/blend
https://www.spine-health.com/treatment/pain-management/treatment-options-neuropathic-pain
https://www.spine-health.com/forum/treatment/pain-management/common-pain-management-procedures
https://www.spine-health.com/conditions/chronic-pain/chronic-pain-coping-techniques-pain-management
https://www.spine-health.com/forum/treatment/spinal-injections/esi-101
Why didn't you return to the surgeon when you weren't feeling well for follow up instead of laying in bed, allowing the infection to brew for two weeks? The ER is not a diagnostic center, and post op increased pain should have had you returning to the surgeon before going to the ER. They aren't equipped in most situations to run diagnostic testing or imaging necessary unless they are a major trauma center these days due to budgets etc.....
You also stated that the MRI proves you have pain- No, it doesn't. All it shows is that there is an area of your spine that requires surgery. It doesn't prove or disprove pain. Some people will have pain with a spine condition, others don't......so all the MRI proves is that there is something wrong that needs to be fixed in your case. Your body proves you have pain, your blood pressure goes up, your heart rate, your eyes show it, your facial expression shows it, the way you move shows it....
You keep stating that the doctors don't care about you because they aren't giving you what you want from them and that is pain medication.......that's not the way it works......It not about having insurance or not, it is about treating a patient in the best way that each doctor determines is best for the patient at the time they see them. When someone is setting off red flags all over the place, and asking for pain medications, they can easily be construed as drug seeking......