pain doc moving what to do???

[boaz]

Hi,
today we found out my husbands pain man. doc is not comming to the office we have been seeing him at for the last year or so, he'll be at the nearest office of 75 miles away one way...what do we do? There is a larger town closer that we could find another one, but I hate for him to be put thru the mill again with "try this, try that" crap....he at first had to have epidural injections, that was his SOP I guess to weed out drug seekers?? They didn't faze him, so he's went from 5's to 10's in the pain meds..hydro-perc, similar stuff. Takes neurontin and that cough meds that those kids get high with Delysm....he's a workers comp case, and we just got it turned over last Sept. I don't even think their billing them right, still sending it to the private ins. He is supposed to have a fusion surgey also with the instruments, he right now has awful pain runs down his right leg, foot drop that comes and goes, numbness, burning...I read about the failures of surgery, I think he couldn't handle it if he went thru that and still had the same pain. His life is so miserable now......heck our life is....it affects the spouse too....big time...
any ideas??

Thanks

[surgicaldisaster]

Hi Boaz, doesn't it figure when you finally have things ironed out, somone kicks the board out from under you! Well, I think you have a few options here. You could, bite the bullet and travel to the Dr. you are comfy with or you could try out a new Dr. showing that you have tried everything under the sun and that what he is doing now is what finally works. You could also see if your current Dr. might be able to talk to someone closer(another pm Dr) that he would reccomend so you don't have to go through the whole gammut again. Hope this helps little...let us know how you make out. And by the way, you are right it takes its toll on the whole family. Kudos to you for hanging in there even when the going gets tough. There are a lot who don't which is a shame. Good Luck to you both! Surgical Disaster

[lindao1]

Hi Boaz!

Good advice already. Asking your current PM if there were someone he could recommend that was closer would be a good way to go IMO>

Another option which Shore helped me with is to go to the Medtronic website and look up their drs in your area. They deal with the pain pump, etc. and no doubt are quite familiar with and not hesitant in using opiates when the situation calls for them. This helps to quickly weed out the needle jockeys etc. and directs you more to those who are serious about pain management.

This is what I did in order to obtain a second opinion in regards to the pump when the time comes. It's been a relief for me knowing that I have choices with drs. who will not shy away from opiate therapy and the pump and should be willing to continue therapy that's been proved a success, no matter what stigma may be attached to that therapy and which other drs. elude when possible.

Good luck and I hope your husband will feel better real soon. Linda

[Shoreline]

Hi Boaz, Everyones advice and support was great. iddeally you could find a great doc closer to home. I know I would pay dearly for spending 3+ hours in the car on any day plus waiting room time, I'd be a mess.LOL.

Howwever, If nothing is panning out, Is it possible to see hime less frequently than every month. I've been dose stable for so long I have been going to the doc about every 3 months. I get 3 months worth of scripts written at one time. Each state may have different laws about C-2 scripts expiring within a certain number or days etc. In my state you can't post date a C-2 but you can put a "fill on or after date"

He corectly puts the date he writes each scrpt in the date box, But he projects 30 days out for each month. Say i saw him last week for my 3 month apt. I run out of meds on Tues and It's easy to calculate. He wrote me3 months worth of meth and MSIR on the bottom of the first script he writes, Fill on/after 4-14
the next script has the correct date on it and at the bottom Fill on/aftyer 5/13 the next says fill on or after 6/10, He deducts 1 day for months hat have 30 days and 2 days for the ones that have 31. This pretty much keeps me refilling on the 30th day.

Here is a link to check your state laws and see if perhaps this is acceptable practice in your area or you could talk to your doc about less frequest apts if you are dose steady and don't require managed care every month. It's also a cool tool. Click on your state and read your state policy regarding prescribing.

[url]http://www.medsch.wisc.edu/painpolicy/matrix.htm[/url]

Anyway, I do hope you have some luck and your doc is willing to cover you untill this is resolved.
Take care, Dave