Made the right choice

[jamlws]

Thank you guys for your input and I am glad I listened. The new pain dr called and they said they are booked til the end of June so I made the right choice by going with the other one well I hope. I talked to my PCP's nurse yesterday and she said if I liked the doctor at the old one then go there and if I don't want to see his asst then tell them I only want to see him. She also said she understands why I turned down the nerve block and if I have had a dr tell me not to get it then I would question it too. With it being in the face that scares me. So I am going to go see the shrink on the 26th and then call the pain dr and ask for the girl I talked to after I leave there. I also asked her to tell my PCP thank you so much for all she has done for me. I canceled all my sons appt for next week cause he is having camp at school and I dont want him to miss any of it. So his allergy testing in now in July which works better that way we can have all his medical paperwork done for the next school year and his follow up from his surgery is now June 4th that is his first day of summer vacation. He asked me to change his appts for next week cause he don't want to miss school. My pain has been worse since yesterday. My son made a loud noise so I turned really fast to see what he was doing and every since my face has been hurting worse and the area that I had surgery on in my mouth has been hurting pretty bad and my eye and where the surgern took my wisdom tooth out. I am not sure why all this is hurting worse but I have meds that help and I will just have to deal with what it don'[t help for now. It hasn't hurt like this since I had surgery there. I might of done something when I turned my head really fast not sure, I am always very careful with everything when it comes to my face but sometimes I do something stupid and mess stuff up. So I will have to deal with it and I told my son not to scream like that again for no reason. He said he was sorry ;)
Thanks again,
Jamie

[jamlws]

I never asked for meds until it got to the point in order to care for myself and my kids I had to have some kind of relief and believe me it was so hard to ask. When I would go to the dr I would say, what can I do for the pain and they would tell me motrin or something like that I would say ok even though I knew it wouldn't work cause I have tried that. If this pain was in my back or something like that I am sure I could deal with it but it's in my face and mouth and I have to talk and eat. I have a very LOW tolerance for pain and I have always been like that. I really hate to be in pain and try everything I can to make it stop. Once I sprained my ankle while I was living at home and it hurt so I asked my mom to take me to the er to get it fixed and she said no and a day later I was opening my bedroom window and it was one of the ones that don't stay up by their self so I had to put a curtain rod under it, well I was trying to stand on my hurt foot and I put the curtain rod in my mouth to open the window and it hit the window and well I cut my self very badly, My mom rushed me to the ER with blood all over me and looked at me and said "you will do anything to get to the ER won't you" and I heard the nurses and doctor ripping her a new one for not taking me to the ER sooner cause if I wasn't having trouble standing I wouldn't of hurt my mouth. I will never forget that. But growing up I was always hurting myself cause I was a tom boy and I was always in the ER and I don't even what to think about how bad the bills was.
I am hoping this all works out and this will be the last doctor I will have to go to for this. It is to the point that I am over do for a teeth cleaning and I am telling you I WILL NOT GO, I am scared to death, they would have to put me to sleep just to clean my teeth cause all the crap I have been through there is no way I will walk into a dentist office again. I try to take the best care of my teeth that I can so I won't have to. If someone puts their hand in my mouth I am telling you I will freak out. I can understand why people dont like the dentist now.
Thanks alot sherry, I hope you have a great day.
Jamie

[namnam46]

I have a good feeling about this appointment. I think that phone call from the girl in his office was meant to be!!! I think this is the PM Dr. for you. The timing is just too perfect!!!

You've have to get the relief that you need so you can get some normalcy back in your life. Your pain is so horrific I don't know how you can stand it. I've gotten used to mine over the years. I have an incredibly high tolerance for pain so I'm lucky in that way. The only reason as you know that age plays into this is because you can become intolerant to the meds and then you have nothing. I was able to put up with so much pain because I didn't know that there was anything like a PM Dr. and didn't know that I could get anything stronger than I was on. I sure didn't ask, didn't know that It was ok to ask. I always thought that you just took what they prescribed. I've learned alot over the past few months. :) You're never to old to learn!! :)

You're welcome, Sweetie....Sherry

[jamlws]

Thanks Shery. Sorry to hear about all your pain. I am glad you did find something that reallly helps you and gets you through the day so you can live your life that means alot to someone like me. I really hate to see anyone deal with pain like this cause I know how much it takes out of someone. I am hoping this dr works out good also, he did seem so nice and kept saying "I'm so sorry you have been through all this and we will get it taken care of" so I am hoping he stays at that and wants to treat me and not wanting only to make money. Thanks again hun,
Jamie

[namnam46]

Don't worry, just tell him what you can't take and why, all the side effects, etc. It might be a litt le different for you than it was for me. First my age, 63, plays a big difference plus the tremendous damage that has been done to my entire body with the arthritis and severe DDD. He sent me immediately for 13 x-rays of my back and was going to send me next for MRI's if he didn't get what he needed from those. When he got them back he said that in his 20 years of doing this I was only the 3rd patient that they had come back with the determination of the progression of the DDD in the severe range. He said it was almost always mild to moderate and occasionally a moderate to severe, just never severe. He had a lifetime of records in front of him and since I had been on Hydrocodone 7.5/500 since 2003 and this was just this past January, 2010 he asked me what I wanted and I told him I wanted to be as pain free as I could and I really wanted to take as few pain pills as I could because I take 11 pills a day that are just for Heart, blood pressure, arthritis (Celebrex 200 mg 2Xday), etc and that doesn't inclued ANY pain meds. He listed everything, all of the "Big Dogs" and I asked if I could try the Fentanyl Patch since it wasn't a pill. He said absolutely and started me on the 12.5 and left me on the Norco 10/325 4 times a day and told me he knew that it wouldn't be strong enough but he wanted to titrate me up slowly so that I wouldn't have any problems. So we went up 12.5 each month until we hit 50 and that really seems to be a good dose for me. I've been on it for 2 months and we switched from the Norcos to the Percocets 10/325 and I take 1/2 to 1 pill every 8 hours. I only take 1/2 and usually only 2 halves a day sometimes 3 halves. I really wish you lived here in the Phoenix area because he would be a great Dr. for you because with the severe pain that you are in he would treat the pain and not give you the run around that you've been getting. I' keeping my fingers crossed that your new Dr. (even though it's been a rocky start) will turn out to be like my Dr.  You deserve the best and I'm praying that he will be for you!!!

Hang in there....Sherry

[jamlws]

I was so into controling his pain after his surgery and now he is causing mine lol but that is what kids are for. He is back to normal now, running around, yelling and eating everything in sight. He is sleeping all thru the night, he said he don't wake up til I or his dad wakes him up and I don't hear him snoring at all now. If only I could get my husband to quit snoring, he hates when I put a sock in his mouth LOL He is not that moody anymore so that helps me alot. He went thru so much after surgery but he said he is so glad he had it done.
Yep I only have a week now til my pain appt. I just hope it goes good and he won't look down on me for turning down that nerve block. The nurse said we will come up with a plan on how to control my pain and with what. I am so not into the strong stuff like morphine and don't want to touch it and I am hoping he understands that and don't want to push that on me.
What happen on your guys first appt? Do they start you out on the lowers doses of meds and go from there? Cause right now I am taking hydrocodone 5/500 2 of them 4 times a day. It don't take care of all the pain but it helps. I am also on amitriptylin 25mgs at bed time and not sure if he wants to take me off that cause I have been on it for about 6 months. I just don't know what kind of meds he is going to start me out on cause all the nerve meds they use for nerve pain I can't handle the side effects and I think I have tried almost all of them. Thanks for your input.
Jamie

[mellie4]

I'm new to this board, but I've had chronic pain for many, many years and just had my 8th or 9th (I've lost count) surgery on my hand in March.

I've had much better results talking to the nurse practitioner and doctors at the pain clinic than my surgeon.  Surgeon's don't really know what to do other than operate.  I've found mine to be somewhat patronizing and really not helping me look for solutions.  I was the one that asked for the referral to the pain clinic.  

Good luck with your appointment.

[jamlws]

I will but I can't contract my surgeon in his own words "I did what I had to do and that was to close the hole. I don't know why your in so much pain, but I'm done with you" He is a total jerk. The only good thing he did for me was close the hole and put me on medical leave so I wouldn't lose my job. He is the one that I have to go to in order to go back to work, so I am not going near him til then. I am hoping this new pain dr can help. I just tried to lay down to see if that would help and it didn't. I think it might be cause they are having my best friends husbands furenal today and I couldn't go. I am hoping to go see her this weekend. We will see.
Thanks Tuck,
Jamie

[Tuckamore]

I just posted on your other thread. I am glad you made this choice. If it doesn't work out as you had hoped you can always make another choice down the road.

I too think this nurse has your best interest at heart. Be kind to her and she can open many doors for you. Your physicians nurse can be a great resource for you now and in the future.

I hope you are just in a flare and that your pain will subside. If not don't be afraid to contact the surgeon or your PCP.

Take care my dear. We are here for you.

~Tuck