My prayer is that every doctor, every nurse, every anyone who stands in judgment of others when it comes to things like pain would experience exactly what their patient is experiencing.
There used to be a popular saying back when nurses were mostly female - "Every nurse should give birth" to know how excruciating childbirth can be. And for doctors, who were mostly male, you used to hear, "Every doctor should have a kidney stone".
Well, my cousin is experiencing severe pain issues lately and has seen, to almost no avail, chiropractor, internist, surgeon, neurologist, and now a Pain Management doctor. He is on Percocet, which gives maybe 3 hours of relief. He is allowed 2 Percocet per day. Huh? Isn't this serious underdosing? What is he supposed to do the other 18 hours per day? He had to request the Percocet, too; doctor did not bring up the issue of pain med and was content to give only injections of steroid/'caine, which did only a little good - and only the first shot helped. Subsequent shots have been worthless.
Now, Cuz is on oxycontin and only after requesting, at my suggestion, pain relief that would be more steady. Had I not coached him on this, he would not have known to ask for it. Do you think anyone at the pain clinic has talked to him about constipation as a side effect of narcotics? No. Cousin Vito brought up that he needs to increase water and fiber. Also avoid driving and knives, lawnmowers, etc. when under the influence of these powerful meds. The nurse also did no teaching about this.
The doctor did not talk about the fact that there is a lag of between 3 and 7 days for the oxycontin to reach a therapeutic level and that Cuz should continue the Percocet BID PRN for the first few days. In fact, doctor Torture lowered the Percocet to one per day PRN. To me, this is not merely incompetence, it is cruel. I guess he thought maybe the shot would help more than it did, therefore the Percocet could be decreased. Cuz was very scared, thinking that the doctor would not help him with the pain, should the current regimen be inadequate.
When the doctor told him that he found him unbelievable, that he thought he was exaggerating the pain in order to evoke sympathy from the doctor, that was the last straw. Cuz has severe, unbearable pain with certain movements and these cause him to grunt or scream sometimes. Other times, he is, thankfully, pretty much ok. While arising from the table after the shots, he screamed twice. The idiot doctor apparently forgot that such pain is diagnostic of Cuz's condition. At least, that's what he told him originally - that, with his particular condition, pain upon rising is the worst. Also, Cuz is having killer muscle cramps, which can also be very, very awful, as any of you athletes out there know. To not be believed was really an insult - and the doubter is supposed to be someone who specializes in this specialty.
I really feel like filing a complaint with the licensing Board, the specialty Board, JCAHO, the facility Administrator and Risk Manager, and anyone else who will listen. This doctor sounds like a real jerk. There are other issues - he has kept Cuz waiting an hour or more for every appointment. He is not available after hours. No one covers for him on holidays, weekends, vacations and he does not answer his pager. There is no other contact way, per the nurse.
Cuz has begun seeing a physical therapist who is skilled in trigger point therapy and primal reflex release technique or something like that. She has done more for him, he says, than all the others combined. Naturally, his insurance doesn't cover her.
