Losing it - Foot Problems Message Board

kimann · 05-05-2006, 04:51 PM

My OS still hasn't returned a call. This makes call #5 ignored. I don't know why, but I had it in my head that a visit is on the 10th, it isn't until the 22nd, and I will never make it.
I've done some reading, and I'm not sure this is a nerve related to PF. I'm NWB, so it doesn't happen when my foot hits the floor. It wakes me, and won't let me go back to sleep. It does, however, resolve after several hours of being up.
It is a gripping, burning in the heel, I've never had heel pain. My medial and lateral/collateral ligaments were thickened, and MRI showed excess fluid and suggested anterior compartment syndrome, maybe tarsal tunnel entrapment, but my pain did not correspond. They hurt, and rubbed, and clicked when I walked, the mortise was improperly seated, but I did not have numbness or nerve pain on either line. Now they simply hurt, but I don't move, and they're not that bad. None of those, to my knowledge, affect the heel.
I don't know why this Doc ignores me, but I'm losing it. I want to call the original OS, explain, and ask him to do my follow up care, but I'm not sure if it is appropriate. This is a small town, and if he called my Doc to discuss it, it could get worse. I'm not even sure he would be able to help. He is a bone man, referred me because he didn't want to cut or rebuild ligaments in the foot and I needed a specialist. But since I only had the osteotomy, he should be able to handle me, right???
Ok, I'm really going on. Any comments? Talk with you later, take care people. k

RubyRedHead · 05-05-2006, 07:34 PM

K,
So sorry you are in so much pain.

YOU NEED TO GET SOMEBODY'S ATTENTION!! If you are able, you may want to make an office call and camp out til the doc sees you or you may need to make an emergency room visit. If you are in a small town, you would think that this OS wouldn't want or need the bad press.

Do you think he would respond to a malpractice suit?

I don't think that you should be concerned with etiquette. You need to take care of yourself. Your current OS is the one being very inappropriate by not returning your calls. I wouldn't hesitate going to your first OS for help. You have to be strong and get the help that you need, and get it soon.

creative2 · 05-05-2006, 09:35 PM

Is it the doctor who did your surgery who is ignoring you? Sometimes they don't like to phone because they can't bill for it. I wouldn't worry about what the doc thinks if you check in with the previous doctor. That's done all the time. In fact, after I got an opinion from one doctor, I went to 3 others, and then went back to him and told him who i saw and what they said. In the meantime, phone the doc's office again and talk to his staff. Just say you need to come in asap. Most offices will not say no. Are you in the U.S.?

kimann · 05-06-2006, 07:26 AM

RubyRedHead & Creative,
Thanks for the responses. Yes, this is the OS who cut. Doc 1 wouldn't, referred me to a foot & ankle specialist. My dad says there's no way another Doc would touch me now, "He won't mess with what's been done." I dont' want him to cut, only to do appropriate followup and help me. If it is a nerve issue, he should be capable of helping, I imagine he sees it sometimes since he does osteotomies.
Doc 2 can't bill for phone time, but he can't bill for the first 90 days of follow up visits, either, which is my gut feeling on why he ignores my calls. Doc 1 always had a tech call me within 24 hours, no matter how stupid the question, and now my Q's are much more serious!
I'm not concerned with etiquette, or his "feelings", as he is unconcerned with mine. I AM concerned now with my recovery and my pain, and just have the idea that if Doc 1 called to see what's up, and Doc 2 said, "She's a problem", Doc 1 would decline, and Doc 2 might get worse. I've tried to be patient, and have not provoked the tech or the receptionist because they work very hard, and because I don't want to be known as a problem. That's all.
I've decided to call Doc 2 Monday and if I get nowhere, call Doc 1 and ask him to do follow up for me.

creative2 · 05-06-2006, 08:11 AM

That sounds like a good plan. Sometimes it's hard to be in pain and fight your own battles too. It might help if your dad calls for you and explains that he is worried about you and would like you to see the doc asap.

Let us know how it goes.