Feb 12 2009
Is the Medical System Broken?
Or do I just seem to fall through the cracks more than most people?
I spoke to the doctors office today. The nurse told me to be patient that it is going to take time and not to expect my previous CT scans to be delivered and reviewed for another week. She also was adament that the doctor was not going to do anything further until those previous scans were recieved and reviewed. No, it didn’t matter that I was in pain and suffering; I just need to do the best I can and call back if I need more pain medication. I mentioned that the pain medication was not helping and just making me loopy yet still in pain and she said that if that continued I could call back and they would see what else they could do for pain medication.
This all seems so sureal. Yes, I have had more than my share of medical issues. I have a laundry list of medical conditions including PCOS, IBS, PMDD, GERD, asthma, allergies, milk/dairy intolerance, and more. I also have family history of an even longer list of things which medically we are “keeping an eye on”. I do understand that sometimes I am very hard to diagnose as my symptoms do not usually follow the typical patterns. However, to me it is insane when a 34 year old women just suddenly begins to have excruciating and debilitating pain but is just told to wait and deal with it. Shouldn’t we be doing other testing? Really all they have done at this point is the CT scan and check my urine for bacteria. Shouldn’t we be looking at blood work or something? I am just so frustrated!! Plus with living where we do it isn’t like I have a huge set of options as far as doctors and hospitals are concerned to just say fine I will go somewhere else.
Frustrated in Wyoming is an understatement…
Can’t your doctor call the radiologist? Or order a STAT report? I agree with Lin…hopefully you have other choices your insurance will pay for.
I hope you get the help you need real soon!
God bless.
Roxie
You are invited to sign the Recovery Wall
http://recoveryrocks.today.com/recovery-wall
The honest truth - your list of diagnoses add up to a psychological issue. That doesn’t mean you don’t experience your symptoms. From vast experience with patients just like you, your doctor knows that he’s not going to find anything anatomically or physiologically wrong with you. So he’s not trying that hard.
I don’t mean to sound abusive - I’m actually trying to be lighthearted. I’ve had similar symptoms and have come to understand that just about all of my symptoms are a product of or related to my psychological state. They significantly improve with the right combo of antidepressants (had to try a few different ones to find an effective med). The side effects are bad enough for me though that about half the time I elect to suffer the symptoms rather than the meds.
Let me throw out a couple of things to see if they fit. Do you have a long list of medicine allergies - like more than five? When you think of your childhood, is it painful? (regardless of whether anything truly bad happened to you or not). Have you gone to doctors that others have said are good just to decide that they are just as disinterested in you and your care as the rest? If so, I’m telling you, it’s not them, it’s you.
A psychiatrist is your best bet but you have to be willing to be patient. Several of the drugs take weeks to reach a steady state and you will desire immediate results that just aren’t going to be a reality. Stick it out. If after a few weeks you’re noticing no improvement, talk with your doctor and try a different medical regimen. Your doctor knows it’s psychological but believe it or not, he can’t bring himself to be completely straight with you like I currently am because he doesn’t want to be perceived as an asshole (like you’re probably thinking about me right now.
).
I’m fortunate in that I get to see both sides of this issue - I suffer many of your symptoms and I also happen to be a doctor. If you really want to get better, try - and really embrace and try - to do what I’ve suggested. I know it’s a miserable state to be in and I wish you the best of luck.
@Joe,
I wish you would have left a link so I could check out your website or blog.
You may be correct in your assessment. Or of course, both physiological and psychological symptoms can co-exist, as they often do.
With all due respect to your profession, I think it’s too early in the “rule out” stage of the diagnostic process to come to this conclusion. I think you would need to review a patient’s medical records and complete a thorough exam before dismissing physical symptoms as psychogenic.
If scolman’s physician knows it’s psychological, then why is he prescribing pain meds instead of Lexapro? Because “regardless of the origin, the pain is real” isn’t a good enough answer considering the addictive nature of opiates.
My aunt had random symptoms, kept going to the doctor, and they never found anything wrong with her. Most of my family members concluded she was an attention-starved hypochondriac.
A few years later, when she died of MS, they stopped saying that about her.
Roxie
You are invited to sign the Recovery Wall
http://recoveryrocks.today.com/recovery-wall
How about changing a doctor? If I was not happy, I’d do that. Hope you can get that pain relieved soon.
Have a wonderul weekend!
I understand. This is the main thing preventing me from freelancing full time. Even WITH insurance, it’s horrible. My insurance company doesn’t want to fully treat me for migraines–at least, that’s how it feels. I hope you get better!
Tara from The Costumer/Merry Meet
I hope that the doctor gets back to you sooner than you expect. It is very frustrating. I am also having some issues and my doctor is out of town this week, so the nurse told me to carry on with my normal treatment until the doctor returns. Drives me nuts!
I don’t even know where to begin in responding to “Joe”, so I don’t think I even will…
I do want to say thank you to everyone else for the thoughts, concern, and suggestions!
It may take a few months for them to figure out what’s wrong, but hang in there, once they figure it out, you will feel much better. Just remember it takes time, and although you may never be totally pain free, they can probably get it to a tolerable level. I have struggled with chronic pain for 8 years now, some days are better than others, but believe me, you do adapt. Living with pain does make you depressed ans when you are depressed, the pain may seem even more unbearable. Hang in there, the doctors with figure it out and get you on the right meds and you will be grateful for not having to deal with the severity of the pain you deal with now. My thoughts are with you and my prayers. Be strong and have faith.
Oh yuk. I had no idea any of this was going on. I hope it takes a turn for the better soon.
Frankly, Joe’s not worth a response because he’s clearly a troll dressed up in a doctor’s coat he got for Halloween.
But on a more serious note, the system is VERY broken. I saw a handful of doctors and specialists before they were able to figure out my migraines weren’t seizures…but in the meantime, the quack neurologist put me on a medication with such bad side-effects that I would have rather just continued on with the 40+ day migraine I’d been living with to the point I went to see him. And it didn’t help that my PCP gave me something to help me sleep that wasn’t actually for sleep and caused a slew of adverse reactions that went undiagnosed for nearly a year before yet another specialist put the pieces together for me…and then told me that all of these misdiagnoses caused yet another illness that I’m getting to live with for the foreseeable future. woo.
Okay, enough of Jen whining. I only meant to say that, yeah, it’s royally screwed up so it’s not just you…if that helps at all.
I really do hope things start looking up for you soon. I’d like to offer my services to you since I’m also a fake doctor and psychiatrist online in my spare time so I’d be glad to give you a pretend diagnosis if you can’t find Joe.
Jen
You’re right - the system is VERY broken. I think a lot of us have stories about things that went wrong, kids that fall through the cracks, medical screwups and the rest. None of that makes you feel any better, I’m sure - it certainly didn’t help me when I found out after a year and a half that the medication prescribed for my son was the CAUSE of 90% of his problems, not the solution. It only made me madder - and now I’m mad for YOU, because it’s outrageous that in this day and age of instantaneous digital transmission, anyone should have to wait that long to get copies of previous scans, MRIs, Xrays and other test results.