Am I supposed to be in this much pain?

[annamarie0424]

At age 15 I had a rollerblading accident that got me on an x-ray table.  All was well, except for the giant grapefruit size tumor they discovered.  I was rushed to Mayo for testing. A CT scan showed the location to be in the center of my chest.  My heart was moved 3 inches to the left from it's normal position.  My right lung was in the shape of an hourglass.  It was putting heavy pressure on my spine, and the docs were suprised I never knew it was there.  A biopsy  test concluded it to be a schwannoma, some kind of nerve tumor.  The surgeon said it was the biggest one he had ever seen.  After the surgery I had pain, and when I returned for check-ups I complained.  My surgeon told me to exercise more... I did.  Around age 22 or 23 I went back to mayo for a 3 week chronic pain rehab.  i went through every kind of specialist there was whom all concluded there was nothing that could be done to help me, and there was no reason I should be in that much pain.  I was a superstar in the program, but had a total and complete meltdown shortly after.  It was really hard to adopt the idea that this would last forever and there was nothing to be done.  
I am now 29, and I just found out I have all kinds of staples and even a "zipper" in deep tissue of my back.  Excuse me, but, "What the ****?"  I went back to Mayo so many times, and constantly complained that it felt like there was something "stuck" in there.  When asked to describe what the pain felt like they got a pretty vivid answer.  I would say, "Doc, it feels like someone cut me open, dropped their loose change in me, and then sewed me back up."  I have since read in my records:  "Pt believes someone has placed coins in her back."  It is no wonder they thought I was mentally ill.  No, the doctor was just mentally challenged.  I even knew it was some kind of metal in me.  I consider that to be mental superiority, not mental illness.  
I stopped addressing the whole thing when I got treated like a junkie over and over.  Couldn't someone have told me at some point that there was all that metal in there?  Now I am told that it "shouldn't" cause pain.  Well it did, and it does.  Can I get all of that stuff take out of me somehow?  A lot if it is close to my spine.  I have had a lot of seizures in the last year.  Could these "staples" be the cause?  
I have explored every option there is out there to avoid chronic narcotic dependence.  I have been on every anitdepressant, antipsychotic, sleeping aid, on and on, and my body is getting really really sick of all of it.  Not to mention my mind.  Most of the things I try make me paranoid, and feel like ****.  When I tell this to the doctors they don't seem to care as long as my "behavior" appears better.  So all of this **** I am taking to avoid narcotics-  I think it is 10 times worse...  most of these drugs are too new to comprehend the consequences of long term use, and I am ALREADY dealing with the consequences of these "safer" drugs.  What a bunch of B.S.  Seroquel for example.  I had someone record me while I was on that stuff.  I fell asleep with food in my mouth.  I looked like terry shiavo.  I looked like the drunkest person I have ever seen.  How is this drug "safe" in any way.  I could go on.  Just let me know what you think about these questions, and I will ask you more about why someone such as myself would be put on an antipsychotic for chronic physical pain.

[Tuckamore]

Hello Again,
Someone should be responsible for the metal they left in you. That does not help your pain. Yes physicians decide what should be painful and what shouldn't. They can be wrong, apparently that is your case.  I had a physician that was kind enough to put similar things in my chart and for years I was not taken seriously due to his opinions. He went so far as to actually twist the things I said so they would sound crazy and several things were out and out lies . Why do these physicians that are otherwise good or even excellent behave in this manner? It's any one's guess and there are probably a multitude of answers. In my case he was afraid of litigation because I was is a legal suit against the person who caused the MVA.

How did I finally get taken seriously and obtain diagnosis and treatment? Two things, one was the passage of time and the other was I went outside the medical community that he practiced in and I never told my new physicians that I saw him, even though he was my PCP for 6 years. So that is my suggestion to you. Mayo is a wonderful, wonderful clinic, they save lives every day and they have great physicians but in your case I would go elsewhere. Start from scratch. You can refuse to allow a new physician access to your past medical records. There are reasons you can give to them, or just avoid giving the name of the clinic that he has an association.

Best of luck to you. Please keep us posted. Take care, Tuck

[Jon6]

I understand completely. I have degenerative disk disease and the nurses used to look at me like, "there;s that drugie again back for more pills..." After my MRI nobody says ... about pain medicine anymore. Like Dr. House from the TV show says, You have an idiot for a doctor!" While some depression expresses itself as pain also, this is nowhere near you case...in my opinion. Get a new doctor and tell him you are in pain all the time and you need medicine for the pain. I have found after taking 3 years worth of anti-inflamatories, that they do more damage to the body than Hydrocodone. You may want to go to a specialist in the area of post op pain/diagnosis. Best of luck.