You know, that title sounded better in my head than written out. Oh well, it makes the most sense so it stays. When last we talked, I had just finished my first surgery and PT failed miserably. I was put on morphine and the doctor handling my case was, well…not much of a listener. I shopped for a new pain management physician, which because of seeing different doctors I had to see for the initial injury, turned out to be my third actual pain management doctor. When I first walked in, this physician looked at my file and thought, “Oh great, another junkie.” My wife and I could see it in his face, he wanted me out of his office as fast as possible. Thankfully, my wife is an incredible woman; fierce, determined, intelligent, caring, and the most loving woman I have ever known. She was able to articulate that I was not there for medication, but to get off the most I could without loosing my mind. He leaned back and he listened. Yes, I said he listened!
I still ran into the problem of being put on the back pain bus, which I found infuriating, but we had a good feeling about this doctor. He was the one who gave me my steroid shots via fluoroscopy. When that didn’t work (surprise) he did give me something that has changed the way I view medication. I was given a Duragesic patch. Generic name of fentanyl transdermal, it was the best way for me to get my proper medication without the side effects that were killing me. In fact, my stomach was so bad by then, any dairy was out of the question. I’m not talking about just lactose intolerance here, none of those pills or products worked; I mean dairy of any kind and any amount. The prior pills put my peristalsis on pause and practically had me pass out. Pooey. The Duragesic did wonders, and started me on a better path. So, why all the hoops and hurdles? Why had I not heard of this before? Transdermal delivery is one of the best methods of medication delivery and should not have taken so long to try, especially with my stomach issues. How about you? Have you met a medical professional that had an answer in mere minutes? Do you feel like you have to go through hazing before you are truly taken care of? Is there really a good rating system for patients to use and find the right doctor? One that takes your insurance and sees new patients, of course!
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