Crackpots!!!

In all the time I have been going to doctors I do not think I have ever been treated this poorly or run in to a BIGGER scam then these people.

Prior to the visit I was told to gather all the records and films (X ray/CT/MRI) that I have regarding the pain and bring them with me. While I figured the appointment would be a bit longer then normal I was NEVER told it would be 2+ hours.

Now remember I had to drive myself since my wife had to work today. The drive was just shy of 2 hours both ways which means I could not take any of my meds so I had to deal with the pain the whole day. I arrived 20 minutes early so I could take care of any forms that might need to be done but was instead whisked away to a room where there was nothing but a hard chair to sit on. I was in there for 20 minutes or so before someone took me to another room where they did all the intake forms, which was 100% paperless and very time consuming. Again there was nothing but a hard plastic chair to sit on and even after asking for something else I was told by the cranky nurse to sit in the chair so I would be facing the LPN taking my info.

With that all done I was left to wait in the room for the doc, about 15 minutes. Everything from the moment he walked in to the room until he spoke was fine and from there it was downhill.

He NEVER bothered to read ANY reports or look at any of the information/medical reports that I brought with me. He then tortured me for a few minutes (although I did expect that) and then launched in to his deal on how he likes to treat back pain with EPIDURALS! I stopped him for a second and explained my reasons for not wanting to go that router and was somewhat shocked that he agreed and said we would not do anything I did not want. For a second there was a glimmer of hope and I thought this guy might be alright. He put a screeching halt to those thoughts though when we started discussing my meds which is also where the scam comes in to play.

He mentioned my current meds and we talked about the meds I have tried in the past, what worked and did not. He then told me that it is the policy of the pain center that they do not prescribe ANY OPIOIDS for pain! If I did not already have some I would have been screwed. What they do for patients who need opioids as part of the pain treatment plan is send them to the other clinic. Great, so I get to pay this guy to send me to someone else who I have to pay. Not only do I have to pay the second guy I have to pay him as an out of network expense since I am on a PPO. That blows!

Just when I thought the torture was over they told me they had yet another surprise. They sent me to a place that looked like a giant ER and ran a test called an EMG which basically tests the nerves in the affected areas. The test itself was not bad and the doctor was a nice guy, the only one that I ran in to there. We chatted for a bit and while I have never had an EMG before I quickly picked up on what he was doing by poking me and then measuring between the electrodes (measuring for distance to plug in to the formula) and he was happy to tell me what he was doing and kind of discussed his initial findings. He said the nerve from S1 is definitely fried and he would know more when he got the print outs. It was nice to know that it is all not in my head.

Anyway the biggest frustration is not that this place does not believe in non-opioid or that they did not read the x-rays, it is the scam that I have to see another whole doctor who ONLY deals in the meds side of this. I plan on calling my insurance company this evening and discussing this with them as this is bullshit IMHO. I have had to go through pain management before and have never had to jump through the hoops that these people set up.

I am hoping that my insurance company has another pain management facility they use in my area. I wonder if the last time I spoke with them they did not tell me to use this one based on the HQ of my wife's employer and thinking we lived close by to that, as they are blocks away from this facility. I am even ready to go back to my old pain docs even though they would be out of network, we at least have a working knowledge of each other and what to expect.

Now my meds are playing catch up since I had almost a 19 hour break between doses. A few more hours and we would have seen what it is like to detox off of morphine, what fun!!! I guess my disappointment is that I expected so much more from these people today and found out that it will not even be close.

Now the flip side of this coin is that they did make me an appointment for the doctor who does use pain meds in conjunction. While I have a problem paying to see two doctors to get the job of one done I am happy in knowing that this doctor uses a pain management method that I prefer and have done before. Luckily I have enough meds to get me to the date I see him.

Arrggh...

Top that all off with the ride home in a major city during rush hour.

Can I just go back to bed and start over?