Aa
MY dad needs help. Need to find him a dr.
January 23, 2010
My dad needs help! He has had 8 back surgeries. His lower spine is fused. He had a spinal pain pump implant that grew a granuloma and the dr removed it before trying to move the catheter to a different area. He has taken pain meds for 25 years off and on . He was doing fairly well on pain pump until granuloma was discovered and it was like the meds weren’t getting where they need to and the dr started experimenting with meds when the first ones had worked. That dr. had lawsuits for malpractice filed against him and my dad was left to find another. After finally finding one and getting as much run around as I don’t know. This dr said the pump needed to come out. My mom tried to explain to the dr that my dad could not take oral pain meds because he had such a high tolerance from taking them so many years and he had to take so many to get relief. Dr did not listen. Took the pain pump out and in came the oral meds. Needless to say he is physically dependant on pain meds. He suffers from chronic pain along with diabetic neuropathy. Dr kept feeding him pills and longer he took more he had to take. Do did not believe he was taking that many pills and would refuse to give him more. Well in the midst of all this,(this July), My grandfather passed away( my dad's dad) . It was more than he could take. My grandfather left a mess of a house and my dad was responsible for the whole mess from unmade funeral arrangements to dejunkifying a filthy dirty hose. He started trying to work on the house and was doing things he shouldn’t have been but felt he had no choice. Well more pain equals more pain meds and with the Pain management dr not giving him enough he went to his family dr to get some more. Well needless to say the pain management dr found this out and both his drs dismissed him from their practices around September beginning of October. He went thru horrible detox and my mom and I thought he would die. with all the other health problems he has. Somehow he made it through but still suffers from chronic pain in his legs,etc. No one will help him. They wont refer him to another doctor or pain management clinic. All these places want referrals and wont accept him without a damn referral. He is so sick and he needs help not only with his pain but with his diabetes. We live in very small town and word gets around and they think he is a druggie or selling the meds. Today he was getting out of bed and didn’t realize both his legs were numb and he fell out of bed. I don’t know how my mom managed to get him in the car but she did. She took him to an ER in next closest town and they refused to treat him. not believing he had taken no meds since beginning of October . His blood pressure was also 215/97 and they did not address that and sent him home. I cannot believe these practices. He is only 60 and this has gone on most of my life. What the hell is the matter with this medical care in the world? The man is going to die before we can find him help. I have called his family doctor myself and they refuse to let me speak to the doctor and say there is nothing he can do? He cant refer him to a pain clinic and blah blah blah. The pain dr was a complete jackass and would not listen and refuses to listen or help. all I can say is HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he suffers from degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis also. How can I find him a doctor or a pain clinic when we have no referral and they wont take him without one????? Sorry this is so long. Hard to fit 25 years of details in in a few minutes. I welcome any help. We have tried everything. Thank you!!!!!!
My dad needs help! He has had 8 back surgeries. His lower spine is fused. He had a spinal pain pump implant that grew a granuloma and the dr removed it before trying to move the catheter to a different area. He has taken pain meds for 25 years off and on . He was doing fairly well on pain pump until granuloma was discovered and it was like the meds weren’t getting where they need to and the dr started experimenting with meds when the first ones had worked. That dr. had lawsuits for malpractice filed against him and my dad was left to find another. After finally finding one and getting as much run around as I don’t know. This dr said the pump needed to come out. My mom tried to explain to the dr that my dad could not take oral pain meds because he had such a high tolerance from taking them so many years and he had to take so many to get relief. Dr did not listen. Took the pain pump out and in came the oral meds. Needless to say he is physically dependant on pain meds. He suffers from chronic pain along with diabetic neuropathy. Dr kept feeding him pills and longer he took more he had to take. Do did not believe he was taking that many pills and would refuse to give him more. Well in the midst of all this,(this July), My grandfather passed away( my dad's dad) . It was more than he could take. My grandfather left a mess of a house and my dad was responsible for the whole mess from unmade funeral arrangements to dejunkifying a filthy dirty hose. He started trying to work on the house and was doing things he shouldn’t have been but felt he had no choice. Well more pain equals more pain meds and with the Pain management dr not giving him enough he went to his family dr to get some more. Well needless to say the pain management dr found this out and both his drs dismissed him from their practices around September beginning of October. He went thru horrible detox and my mom and I thought he would die. with all the other health problems he has. Somehow he made it through but still suffers from chronic pain in his legs,etc. No one will help him. They wont refer him to another doctor or pain management clinic. All these places want referrals and wont accept him without a damn referral. He is so sick and he needs help not only with his pain but with his diabetes. We live in very small town and word gets around and they think he is a druggie or selling the meds. Today he was getting out of bed and didn’t realize both his legs were numb and he fell out of bed. I don’t know how my mom managed to get him in the car but she did. She took him to an ER in next closest town and they refused to treat him. not believing he had taken no meds since beginning of October . His blood pressure was also 215/97 and they did not address that and sent him home. I cannot believe these practices. He is only 60 and this has gone on most of my life. What the hell is the matter with this medical care in the world? The man is going to die before we can find him help. I have called his family doctor myself and they refuse to let me speak to the doctor and say there is nothing he can do? He cant refer him to a pain clinic and blah blah blah. The pain dr was a complete jackass and would not listen and refuses to listen or help. all I can say is HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he suffers from degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis also. How can I find him a doctor or a pain clinic when we have no referral and they wont take him without one????? Sorry this is so long. Hard to fit 25 years of details in in a few minutes. I welcome any help. We have tried everything. Thank you!!!!!!
My heart goes out to you.
Such cruel and unusual punishment. Your post is an example of what I've known for a long time. Doctors work for insurance companies, and are terrified of law suits.
I just visited my GP after neglecting physicals during anal cancer treatment.
He reviewed meds and would not write one for Soma, a muscle relaxant which has been the only thing that works for back spasms which are excruciating and immobilizing.
He has been prescribing it for about 15 yrs.
So I am s****** twice. Once because I will pick up bill. Medicare pays for one physical only within months of retirement, and because I've lost the one med that worked for me.
Your folks are saints! Many elderly (I will be 75 next bd) chose to end their lives rather than be put thru' constant pain because of puritanical drug practices.
I try to stay under the radar. Too late for your folks there. Sounds like they now have a label that will follow them forever. It is just wrong to place us in these untenable situations!!!
Elderly who can get pain meds either share or sell them to help others.
The backward laws are forcing us into practices we couldn't have imagined growing up.
The visits to ER are becoming the norm for those of us over 60 who can't bear pain and have no access to docs. It isn't the answer for your folks, but a stop-gap measure.
I don't believe in pain. It is nuts. Why is it OK to let patients with serious pain problems go unmedicated?? Why is addiction such an issue when you are old and have serious medical conditions.
Ok. Enough of the rant. There has to be a solution. So what action can you take that will give them both short and long term relief? Publicize their plight? Get an attorney?
Find an elder advocate? It is time to pull out the stops, and do whatever you can to reach out for help.
Prayers will be with you.
Such cruel and unusual punishment. Your post is an example of what I've known for a long time. Doctors work for insurance companies, and are terrified of law suits.
I just visited my GP after neglecting physicals during anal cancer treatment.
He reviewed meds and would not write one for Soma, a muscle relaxant which has been the only thing that works for back spasms which are excruciating and immobilizing.
He has been prescribing it for about 15 yrs.
So I am s****** twice. Once because I will pick up bill. Medicare pays for one physical only within months of retirement, and because I've lost the one med that worked for me.
Your folks are saints! Many elderly (I will be 75 next bd) chose to end their lives rather than be put thru' constant pain because of puritanical drug practices.
I try to stay under the radar. Too late for your folks there. Sounds like they now have a label that will follow them forever. It is just wrong to place us in these untenable situations!!!
Elderly who can get pain meds either share or sell them to help others.
The backward laws are forcing us into practices we couldn't have imagined growing up.
The visits to ER are becoming the norm for those of us over 60 who can't bear pain and have no access to docs. It isn't the answer for your folks, but a stop-gap measure.
I don't believe in pain. It is nuts. Why is it OK to let patients with serious pain problems go unmedicated?? Why is addiction such an issue when you are old and have serious medical conditions.
Ok. Enough of the rant. There has to be a solution. So what action can you take that will give them both short and long term relief? Publicize their plight? Get an attorney?
Find an elder advocate? It is time to pull out the stops, and do whatever you can to reach out for help.
Prayers will be with you.
Hi Julie, I have just read your post and i have to say i'm shocked to the core and feel extremely sorry for the situation your father is in. I can from what you are telling me say that you live in America, am i wrong? I hear all the time about barbaric storys of doc's gone totally crazy and won't do anything, leaving patients in a right mess....
As to what to do, boy this is a hard one...... I'm taking it they are refusing to treat him because they believe he is abusing his pain medication, even though everything they need to know is in his medical notes, ie length of time he has taken med's and previous doses etc...
In England UK, we have a legal centre called Citizens Advice, which has lawers and medically trained advisers to give advice as a first come first serve capacity. I was wondering if you have anything like this if not in your small town, maybe neighbouring towns. This way you can talk to someone who is legally trained and will be able to tell you of all your rights and your fathers and give you information on pain clinics etc that don't need refferals, or if not how to get the refferal. They may even be able to give you advice on sueing the doctors for leaving your father in such a state, due to a doctors code of practice is Malifience (not spelt right) which means 'first to do the patient no harm' and Benifience, which means 'to do what is in the best interest of the patient'. So these doctors are breaking two codes of practice here, which means legal action can be taken against them.
Phone around and see what you can come up with, go on the net...google free legal advice and see what the search engine comes up with. Good-Luck and i do hope you find something of value.
I do know if you were over in the UK this would not happen.
As to what to do, boy this is a hard one...... I'm taking it they are refusing to treat him because they believe he is abusing his pain medication, even though everything they need to know is in his medical notes, ie length of time he has taken med's and previous doses etc...
In England UK, we have a legal centre called Citizens Advice, which has lawers and medically trained advisers to give advice as a first come first serve capacity. I was wondering if you have anything like this if not in your small town, maybe neighbouring towns. This way you can talk to someone who is legally trained and will be able to tell you of all your rights and your fathers and give you information on pain clinics etc that don't need refferals, or if not how to get the refferal. They may even be able to give you advice on sueing the doctors for leaving your father in such a state, due to a doctors code of practice is Malifience (not spelt right) which means 'first to do the patient no harm' and Benifience, which means 'to do what is in the best interest of the patient'. So these doctors are breaking two codes of practice here, which means legal action can be taken against them.
Phone around and see what you can come up with, go on the net...google free legal advice and see what the search engine comes up with. Good-Luck and i do hope you find something of value.
I do know if you were over in the UK this would not happen.
Thank you for responses. I also have this listed in the pain management forum.I keep praying an answer will come.
Well still there, both my wife and I are disabled, her from several back operations, me rather severe neuropathy. My wife was disabled for 8 years with a status of total disability, never to return to work. Unun ins called her Doctor and spoke to a new PT that my wife saw once. The PT goofed, stating she didn't know the how disabled she was and agreed to a funtion test. The problem is Unun sends there own PT to do the test. She had to crawl around on her knees and lift small weights, walk treadmill. Several times she complained the pain was too much and he always pushed for more.
This 23 year old PT, not a Doctor said she could work, Unun cancelled her LTD, no money, lost our medical insurance. Of course Unum was going to deny her regardless, the way they work.
My wife sent a letter to the Pain Doctor she never see's anymore about the test. She actually hurt her neck in the test lifting boxes over her head..she had total neck surgery. She also complained to why they approved the test. All we got back was a letter a few weeks later that he dropped her as a patient.
She didn't abuse her meds and we've called several Doctors trying to get someone to help with the appeal, do her disability and get back with pain management...no insurance, no help, so we've lost all our meds.
It just *****. I've had to go off several pain meds cold turkey as has she. He didn't even give her a wean dose. We both almost went mad. Our home is now in foreclosure and we just sit and wait. Both our pain levels are crippling, but no one seems to care. She has so much scar tissue build up in her lower back from 3 operations, they say it would worsen it to try to fix other disc.
Doctor's are so strict with pain meds. We both were on Methadone, Vicoden, Valium, and I also took Lyrica...it just made life bearable.
We finally got a Lawyer and have lawsuits against Unum and her Doctor. Sadly, our family will have to split, she will have to move in with a sister and I a distant uncle that is willing to take me rather than put me on the street.
Worse case, just take him to the hospital as many times until a Doctor will treat him. I've been 3 times this month....
This 23 year old PT, not a Doctor said she could work, Unun cancelled her LTD, no money, lost our medical insurance. Of course Unum was going to deny her regardless, the way they work.
My wife sent a letter to the Pain Doctor she never see's anymore about the test. She actually hurt her neck in the test lifting boxes over her head..she had total neck surgery. She also complained to why they approved the test. All we got back was a letter a few weeks later that he dropped her as a patient.
She didn't abuse her meds and we've called several Doctors trying to get someone to help with the appeal, do her disability and get back with pain management...no insurance, no help, so we've lost all our meds.
It just *****. I've had to go off several pain meds cold turkey as has she. He didn't even give her a wean dose. We both almost went mad. Our home is now in foreclosure and we just sit and wait. Both our pain levels are crippling, but no one seems to care. She has so much scar tissue build up in her lower back from 3 operations, they say it would worsen it to try to fix other disc.
Doctor's are so strict with pain meds. We both were on Methadone, Vicoden, Valium, and I also took Lyrica...it just made life bearable.
We finally got a Lawyer and have lawsuits against Unum and her Doctor. Sadly, our family will have to split, she will have to move in with a sister and I a distant uncle that is willing to take me rather than put me on the street.
Worse case, just take him to the hospital as many times until a Doctor will treat him. I've been 3 times this month....
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