Do i have the right to pick a surgeon I am comfortable with?

[jmille23]

To make it shorter: Microdisectomy in 93. New herniation on same disk moderately large. In more pain than I was before. After other pain meds, put on oxycodonethat works for maybe 3 hours, not 6. I was treated rude by a surgeons office just because i asked a question..not ix but 2x so i said i'd go somewhere else. Went to another surgeon after drinking 2 glasses of wine for anxiety reasons. (first time in allmost 4 months). Surgeon asked and i learned a valuable lesson of lieing. She won't operate on me now. My family doc. is pissed at me. Said I messed up 2x. WHAT? I can see drinking that wine with the 2nd one, me saying no to the 1st is wrong? Don't I have the right to choose who sticks a knife in me and is going to manage my pain care after surgery? I had a morphine drip in 93 cause of major pain after so I asked the last surgeon that said no way! WHAT? If I wake up in the same amount of pain, that is inhumane to just let me lay there. Don't I have the right to be even a little choosy? And i'm scared now too. Cause I am honestly addicted to these oxy's, NO, I am not getting high, they take the pain away, but I can feel withdrawl symptoms when i dont take them. The Norco's i was on worked, but i had to double the dose's and the doc. wasn't safe with that even though a new 2006 update said you can take up to 12. I have a choice, not walk and scream in pain and cry, or be addicted and get weaned off after surgery. But now the doc is mad and has to find another referrel, he might not give me more anyway. Some say "live with the pain". Any comments?

[young at heart]

I can understand your situation to some degree.By rights you have the ultimate choice who does the surgery.
Find a good surgeon that has a spine fellowship.They are awesome at repairing spines and controll your level of pain.
Pain meds after surgery depend on DR.,facility and so on.Keep one thing in mind,pain meds after surgery have changed since 1993.
The drinking of wine,should not of been an issue with the surgeon,but does raise a red flag when taking pain meds.Pain meds should never be raised unless under the advice of your physican.You stating an addiction to the oxy,is it an addiction to the med or does it come down to the neccesity of need do to the pain?
When pain meds are used for chronic back pain usually they prescribe a long lasting med 8-12 hours and a milder med for the break through pain that occurs in between.
I've had 2 lumbar surgeries,one radical with metal rods and disks.It can be very painful,keep in mind each surgery is different and technology has made mile stones in the last 12 years.

[jmille23]

To answer your question about wether it is needed for the pain or needed for the meds. It is Both. I need the meds to walk, not cry, etc. YES, CRY. It is agony to even lay in bed still, and crippling torture trying to get out of bed, crawl to the bathroom, or move at all without the pills. I know what withdrawl is, and I am addicted to the pills chemically, NOT A HIGH. I rarely feel different on them other than they take away the pain. However, my body still craves the chemicalls and withdrawls without it. Therefore, i had a choice, be comfortable and stay on the pills and try to wean off after surgery, or continue in pain, not walk, etc...this is pain that ANYONE could not stay sane. thanks for the advice.  Also, other longer lasting pills did not work, it took more per dose to work than was good for a liver, and they only worked 4-5 hours instead of 6. I am also opiate tollerent.

[young at heart]

Theres nothing worse than chronic pain.After I had my first surgery I was in the worst pain that a person should ever endure.11 months later I had a radical surgery to repair the first.I have spinal cord impingement from implanted disk and left with chronic radiculopathy not only lumbar but thoracic.
Opiates are very easy to become addicted to.Once your pain is releived it'll be easier to be less dependen on them.
Please find a good surgeon to releive you of this pain.no one should suffer this way.

[jmille23]

Thank you for the conversation. I have received replies from other people on other sites that are not compassionate to the situation...to the point of demeaning and judgemental.  I honestly am a recovering addict, (heroin, hydrocodone etc)...Got off the stuff at a rehab in 2001 and have only used pain meds when needed for short periods since. (Not heroin or un-prescribed drugs). So when my back got really hurt, I knew what I was getting into when I started the pain pills. Again, agonizeing 24/7 pain and not functional, or start taking narcotics and hope for the best. My doc. knows i am a recovering alcoholic, but not addict. If I were to tell him, i wouldn't get anything that works. Been there, done that for 13 years. Unfortunately, i have a high tolerence to opiates now.  I did get a referral to another surgeon yesterday. I will keep my thoughts to myself no matter what cause i just can't live like this. On or off the meds. Very scary though. I allready start having bad withdrawl symptoms if i dont take my pills overnight. I can't imagine if I didn't have pills for a whole day then 2+. Cause I been there before. This is my first x on oxycodone though. And i can see the withdrawl is going to be like heroin.

[young at heart]

Your an honest person with me and yourself.No one should judge another unless they have walked in there shoes.
Theres nothing worse than debilitating back pain.It effects every aspect of ones life.
Tapering off meds are difficult,you've been there.Take it slowly,once you get your surgery hopefully you'll have great relief and the meds won't be needed.
Prayers to you

[icemachine]

hey jmille23- have you ever tried a medication called suboxone?its kind of like methadone,but alot less addicting. its for coming off of opiods such as percocet-oxycodone. i suffer from spinal cord damage that causes extreme nerve pain down both my arms. i broke my neck @ c6-c7 and had a fusion in 2002,along with 28 other fractures. but i've lived with this pain for the last four years. i also have a hernated disc at c2c3 and a titanium collar bone along with several other medical problems. i went from darvaset to lortab to percocet to morphine. now, at 22 years old, my stomache can't take the oxycodone or morphine so my doctor suggested suboxone. its a very good medication for long term pain management. the only problem is, you have to go into withdrawl from any opiods you are on for about three days before you can start taking it. but after coming off of morphine to go onto it, i'm sure you can do it. talk to your doctor and see if there are any physicians in your area that can prescribe this medication for you. unfourtunately for me, my pain is soo severe that this medication only worked for about two months so now i have to find something else to manage my pain. its a tough road, but there are many ways to deal with chronic pain.. i wish you the best-
p.s. if anyone has any suggestions for central spinal cord syndrome, and chronic pain management, i would love the help.
thanks-

[jmille23]

WOW icemachine..I feel lucky compared to you. Sorry to hear all that. Unfortunately its when we hear stories that are worse than ours that give us hope and gratitude at someone elses exspense. I have heard of that drug reading in the addiction forums as a way to help get off opiets, but not that you have to be off them first. I will do more research on it since you mentioned it, and possibly talk to my doc. about it. Thanks for the input and I hope things get better for you. I really do feel lucky.