SATURDAY!
Hi Cindy!
I tried to bite my tongue for awhile, but the attitude of your husband's PCP just pissed me off too much! Especially the part about taking a drug test!!! He has not even formed a doctor/patient relationship & he is making suggestions about a patients' integrity?
Ugh!
I consider that unprofessional & rude! I have a 'horse in this race' b/c my husband suffers from debilitating pain 24/7. He has phantom pain from his leg amputation as well as in both knees. It is SO bizarre to have pain in a limb that does not exist! He often wakes up screaming in the night b/c it feels like is calf (which he no longer has!) is 'on fire' & bent up behind his thigh. He needs both knees replaced, but refuses to have another surgery since he contracted MRSA in the hospital & was seriously ill for months afterwards.
He has gone thru similar trials w/his various doctors about his level of pain...mostly b/c he is in recovery from alcohol. Some of the docs have thought he was exaggerating to get pain meds. Anyhow, he now has to go thru a pain clinic to get his vicoden. They do urine samples...how humiliating! I have been on the other side of this issue & understand this is the price many are paying due to addicts abusing the system, but my problem here is w/the attitude of your husband's PCP having not known him that long to make that kind of statement & doctors who don't seem to realize pain is pain. I live w/this man's pain & he is not faking it.
He is now considering medical marijuana as the system appears to be easier to navigate. He wants off pills that have caused chronic kidney disease. But I have mixed feelings about that. This is such a frustrating dilemma, and I hope you are successful in finding a resolution soon. Ppl should not have to suffer w/chronic conditions when treatment is available.
Anyhow, much love...I'll get off my soapbox...
Kathy
Kathy: I have a good friend who goes through a pain clinic. I was going to ask her if they do routine urine tests. Your post is confirmation that they do. It IS humiliating. And, a few (well, not just a few -- but by comparison a few) bad apples ruin it for the rest of us.
I am sorry your Jim suffers so much phantom pain. To wake up screaming is definitely indicative of just how much pain he has. I was thinking a pain clinic might be more supportive of the fact that hubby can't take any of the regular pain meds that doctors usually prescribe.
We talked to hubby's last neurologist about medical marijuana and whether or not it would work for migraine pain. We feel desperate for a solution at times. The neurologist said he didn't think that was an ideal solution at least in part due to the fact that the medical marijuana industry is not as tightly regulated and safeguarded as prescription drugs. Still, the idea isn't off the table in our minds.
Thank you for your words of support.
Cindy P.
As I am on painkillers for my knees and back and occasionally headaches, I too have to pee in a cup for the docs. It's state law. My doc knows I don't abuse my drugs but it's the ones who do that hurt those of us who don't. I get a script for 30 days and I usually don't go through it in 30 days. I grit my teeth to get through pain at night when I'm at work because I don't want my mind to be dulled; I need to be alert.
It's too bad we are all judged as addicts by doctors just because we are in pain and need a painkiller to get through the day.
Eileen, I agree about the judgment by doctors. I guess this is the system we have these days and we just have to do our best to navigate our way through in order to get what we need. It SUCKS though.
I am sorry you have to grit your teeth to deal with the pain while you are at work. That must be very difficult.
Cindy P.
Hi Everyone -- checking in to let you know thinks are ok with me. Thank you all so much for the kind words, they mean a lot to me.
I tried to call two friends who knew Jim was in the hospital -- both seem to be out of town, and I don't have their cell phone numbers. Maura and her boyfriend had made plans with friends to go camping .... Maura was going to cancel, but I told her to go ahead, there was really nothing I needed help with.
Don't remember what I previously posted. Went to funeral home and made arrangements. Have to locate his birth certificate - I used to keep all papers like that in a metal box, but he was tucking his papers in other places, so the hunt is on. So I've been searching everywhere, and cleaning as I go along. Trying to keep myself busy.
HW: 380 SW: 324 GW: 175
