Pain 101-Managing Pain Proper-Finding A Good Pain Management Doctor
I admit when it came to doctors in the past, my intial and only requirement was this-did they take my insurance? I sucked at physicals for myself, my kids I have always been fine, but with myself, I sucked. I never bonded with a doctor since my amazing Pediatrician I had when I was a kid. I came close once with the Ob/Gyn I had in Boston when I had Orion-she rocked and was so supportive-she showed me extreme kindness and prevented my ex from convincing me from making a huge mistake. She cared about me as a person and a patient. I missed being her patient when I moved.
However when it came to my back, it was clear I needed someone who knew what they were doing. I was on Husky and trapped in the throes of clinical healthcare-i.e you walk in at 8AM and pray you see a doctor, end up seeing 6 different resident doctors-in-training who all work under one main doctor-which sucks because all the trainees are excited because something is wrong with you. You get poked, prodded, questioned etc. In the end, about 6 hours later between waiting in a waiting room, waiting in an examination room and talking to several different people, the head doctor will request the trainee make use of their fresh, barely used script pad and newly assigned DEA number to write you out a script for a small amount of pain medication. You are told you get to come back next week to see how it's working and hey kids you get to look forward to wasting another day just so a fresh batch of newbies can ask the next round of questions. Side effect-despite the same doctor overseeing your care-they allow several different doctors write your script. If your on Husky, this translates to them thinking you are doctor shopping as the computer only sees a bunch of different doctors-not realizing they are working at the same location, under the same doctor. Then Husky sends a letter to the doctor saying you have gone to several doctors-they don't include the list of said doctors unless the main doctor requests it-then you get blacklisted until it's cleared up.
Fortunately Dr. K took Husky. So I was recommended to her. Her first order of business-contacting Husky for a list of doctors-the second she saw the names and addresses, she contacts Husky to point out that didn't they realize all the doctors were in the same place, and would they kindly rectify their accusation as I was simply going to a regular clinic-oh and send every person they had been sure to send a letter to about my supposed doctor shopping a letter to recitify the error. Okay-that won my trust. I figured a doctor willing to do that was worth my time.
The biggest error the prior clinic had done was due to a misplaced check mark. Dr. K ordered a series of X-Rays to take a look at my back. She saw something was there, but according to my paperwork, an MRI had been done and come out normal, so why do an MRI? Except for one problem. I never had an MRI. Which we discovered 3 years later when my doctor was frustrated that I was responding to therapy and medication but couldn't figure out the cause "I mean your MRI was normal!" my response "Umm, I've never had an MRI". Bingo. I get an MRI (by this point I was on regular insurance mind you).
I remember getting the call from the office-I was visiting family in Florida. They wanted me in the office ASAP. I explain I am in Florida. They schedule me for the day after I come home. I sat waiting for the doctor, worried on what they could have found. The doctor walks in. "Relax, you'll be okay" she starts "your MRI results....well, short version, if anyway ever again tries to tell you that this is in your head, yell at them". She proceeded to read out what was wrong with my back and I was stunned. Mind you for years I had been told this was in my head, I was "being dramatic", "making it up"-now here was someone telling me the opposite.
Some doctors forget why they are doctors. They get jaded, distant-part of this is a defense mechanism. Some doctors overcome this and retain their ability to care-like my Pain Management doctor. They don't zoom you out of appointments, they take time to know who you are. Finding a good pain doctor is a good start when dealing with something like this. Your pain is probably not going anywhere for a while. So you and your doctor will be involved for awhile, so take care choosing them-it can make all the difference in the world.
I admit when it came to doctors in the past, my intial and only requirement was this-did they take my insurance? I sucked at physicals for myself, my kids I have always been fine, but with myself, I sucked. I never bonded with a doctor since my amazing Pediatrician I had when I was a kid. I came close once with the Ob/Gyn I had in Boston when I had Orion-she rocked and was so supportive-she showed me extreme kindness and prevented my ex from convincing me from making a huge mistake. She cared about me as a person and a patient. I missed being her patient when I moved.
However when it came to my back, it was clear I needed someone who knew what they were doing. I was on Husky and trapped in the throes of clinical healthcare-i.e you walk in at 8AM and pray you see a doctor, end up seeing 6 different resident doctors-in-training who all work under one main doctor-which sucks because all the trainees are excited because something is wrong with you. You get poked, prodded, questioned etc. In the end, about 6 hours later between waiting in a waiting room, waiting in an examination room and talking to several different people, the head doctor will request the trainee make use of their fresh, barely used script pad and newly assigned DEA number to write you out a script for a small amount of pain medication. You are told you get to come back next week to see how it's working and hey kids you get to look forward to wasting another day just so a fresh batch of newbies can ask the next round of questions. Side effect-despite the same doctor overseeing your care-they allow several different doctors write your script. If your on Husky, this translates to them thinking you are doctor shopping as the computer only sees a bunch of different doctors-not realizing they are working at the same location, under the same doctor. Then Husky sends a letter to the doctor saying you have gone to several doctors-they don't include the list of said doctors unless the main doctor requests it-then you get blacklisted until it's cleared up.
Fortunately Dr. K took Husky. So I was recommended to her. Her first order of business-contacting Husky for a list of doctors-the second she saw the names and addresses, she contacts Husky to point out that didn't they realize all the doctors were in the same place, and would they kindly rectify their accusation as I was simply going to a regular clinic-oh and send every person they had been sure to send a letter to about my supposed doctor shopping a letter to recitify the error. Okay-that won my trust. I figured a doctor willing to do that was worth my time.
The biggest error the prior clinic had done was due to a misplaced check mark. Dr. K ordered a series of X-Rays to take a look at my back. She saw something was there, but according to my paperwork, an MRI had been done and come out normal, so why do an MRI? Except for one problem. I never had an MRI. Which we discovered 3 years later when my doctor was frustrated that I was responding to therapy and medication but couldn't figure out the cause "I mean your MRI was normal!" my response "Umm, I've never had an MRI". Bingo. I get an MRI (by this point I was on regular insurance mind you).
I remember getting the call from the office-I was visiting family in Florida. They wanted me in the office ASAP. I explain I am in Florida. They schedule me for the day after I come home. I sat waiting for the doctor, worried on what they could have found. The doctor walks in. "Relax, you'll be okay" she starts "your MRI results....well, short version, if anyway ever again tries to tell you that this is in your head, yell at them". She proceeded to read out what was wrong with my back and I was stunned. Mind you for years I had been told this was in my head, I was "being dramatic", "making it up"-now here was someone telling me the opposite.
Some doctors forget why they are doctors. They get jaded, distant-part of this is a defense mechanism. Some doctors overcome this and retain their ability to care-like my Pain Management doctor. They don't zoom you out of appointments, they take time to know who you are. Finding a good pain doctor is a good start when dealing with something like this. Your pain is probably not going anywhere for a while. So you and your doctor will be involved for awhile, so take care choosing them-it can make all the difference in the world.
posted by Chris @ 4:51 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home