Unrelieved pain, not sure what to do.

[chiliphil1]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here. I have been reading a little on the forums and I hope I can find some sort of answer to my problem.

In June of 2014 I was hit by a car while riding a motorcycle. I work on motorcycles as my job, so this has been a work comp case. I was sent to a local doctor who took a look at me and tried some therapy. The therapy was useless, so they did an MRI. The MRI showed a tear in the labrum of my left hip. The doctor then recommended surgery to correct the issue. I made the decision to go ahead with the surgery but work comp wanted a second opinion. I will mention that this entire time I was being given Norco (that will come back later)

So, I go to my second opinion and my case manager who by now had started coming to EVERY appointment I had immediately began talking up this doctor, how great he was, how much better he was than the other doctor, etc. I saw him and he looked at the MRI and agreed that I needed surgery. I wasn't too keen on this guy but under fairly heavy pressure from my case manager I decided to let him do the surgery rather than going back to my other doctor which I liked much better. This was in about October or so. At this time the doctor did not want to give me Norco, he wanted to give me Tramadol. I tried to explain that tramadol gives me major problems and finally he conceded and gave me the Norco. He prescribed me one pill per day. I was previously on two per day. I told my case manager that if he did not make it 2 per day I would be going back to the old doc. She convinced them and I got 2 per day.

The surgery was scheduled for January and I basically just sat around until then, not being able to do too much with the pain in my hip. The surgery happened and it was brutal! I had massive swelling, a severe increase in pain from prior to the surgery. The doc continued me on the Norco and began therapy. As soon as I started therapy I knew it was a bad idea, I knew that the surgery didn't work. My pain was now worse than before but they kept telling me "keep on with therapy" I told them at every visit that it was useless to be doing the therapy, something wasn't right. So, the doctor responded by INCREASING the therapy! He now had me on 4 days a week. I went to my therapist with this new schedule and she just said "we're not a gym" she refused to allow me to come there 4 days a week. The doctor then transferred me into something called "work hardening" where I went a did 3 hour therapy sessions 3 days a week. Again I told him that this was stupid, it wasn't helping and was making things worse, he didn't listen. It was around this time that he decided to cut me off of Norco and force me onto Tramadol against my wishes and arguments.

I did the 3 hour therapy for about a month and one day I was doing squats which I told the therapist I was struggling with and suddenly there was a pop and I was on the floor. I told the doctor but he insisted we keep with the therapy! So, the therapist at this point had me stop doing squats, gee, thanks! I kept on telling the doctor that something wasn't right, finally I convinced them to do another MRI and guess what? It wasn't right! The pop was the stitches tearing out of the repair he had done which wasn't done properly and had been getting pinched the whole time I was telling him it wasn't right.. So much for me being an idiot, eh? So, the doctor when decided that a second surgery would be the answer.

At this time I requested to come off of Tramadol. I was having way too many side effects from it and very little relief. He instead put me on an extended release Tramadol. Coming up to the second surgery now that the problem was documented and I guess it had been proven that I wasn't a liar I was finally able to get Norco again and came off of Tramadol. However, coming off of Tramadol was a very big deal. I had to be slowly tapered off of it because it gave me HORRIBLE anxiety, depression, pain, and lots of other fun things. So, again, leading up to this surgery we had discontinued therapy and I did little more than sit on the couch. With my Norco I was able to get past the horrible withdrawals from Tramadol and was feeling a little better with less pain.

The second surgery went much like the first, more pain after words and even less use of the hip. To this day my left hip (the bad one) is swollen twice the size of the right one and I am over 6 months out from surgery! I mean the entire hip, the upper leg, even my rear is much bigger on the left than it is on the right. I can hear pops in my hip all the time, it hurts every time I move it, and I have very little strength on that side. Again, this is after the second procedure. The doctor of course made me do therapy again and again I told him it wasn't helping and seemed to be making it worse, he didn't listen. The therapist finally said "there is nothing that I can do to help you" and dismissed me from therapy. When I went back to the doctor again he said the same thing "nothing else I can do" and proceeded to talk about looking into new careers and things like that. Oh, and to mention at this time he had again yanked the Norco and I was back on Tramadol again, against my wishes.

Once he said that I told work comp that I wanted a second opinion, I would not be disabled at 29 and I wasn't going to loose the career that I had always dreamed of. They finally agreed and gave me my second opinion. That doctor has some kind of new procedure that he does and seemed to think that it would work on me. I went for a 3rd MRI now. I have been waiting since January for another appointment with the new doctor and I finally have it in 2 weeks. After requesting the second opinion my case manager wanted me to go back to the doctor who had done the surgeries again and see what he thought. He said that he thought maybe this new procedure would work. At this time he gave me enough Tramadol to taper again, basically cutting me off all meds.

My current situation is this, first I am in far more pain than before the surgeries, I have less use of my hip than I did before the surgeries and I am cut off from pain relief. I actually had my new case manager call the doctor and as for Norco again since the injury has been documented again via MRI, they said they wouldn't be giving me anything but I could use ibuprofen, gee, thanks! So, I have 2 weeks to wait until I see the new doctor (3rd one) again and MAYBE he's willing to do something.

I posted here simply because I am so frustrated. I have been through 2 surgeries both of which made the problem worse. I have been forced to attend hours of therapy even though I told them the entire time it was making it worse. I cannot have pain meds even though I can barely function, and now I may have to of another surgery and hope that it works. God, I don't know what would be next, amputation?

Either way, I guess what I am looking for is this. Why is it that the doctor won't listen to me? Why am I having to keep getting worse from this guy and why does he refuse to treat it?

I'll also mention that Tramadol is the worst experience I have had, I went through an emotional breakdown back in 2011 and the Tramadol makes me feel like that again, just as bad as I ever was. It even makes me physically sick. The withdrawal makes me depressed and with violent anxiety and I have had to do it THREE times now since the doctor continued to give it to me with no say in the matter. I'm actually still trying to taper from it and it is killing me.

Here are my thoughts on this. Do I have any recourse against this doctor who has caused more damage with each procedure? For forcing me onto a medication that I told him causes me problems? For now refusing to help me with any sort of pain relief even though my condition is documented? I'm not looking for a handout but I hate to think that this guy is going this to other people.

[Laura_Marie18]

I'm sorry about ALL that has  gone on. I have only 1 piece of advice, specifically towards the Dr. You can call the Office of Licensing (similar to the better business bureau-but for licensed professions). It may be called something different in your state (I'm in Utah).  

I had a pain clinic that forced me to use a medicine that they had a "contract" with. I did use it for several months even though it wasn't working, and my pain was worse etc.

When I finally refused to use their med- that wasn't working, and said I just wanted to go back to what I was taking originally (they didn't seem to have a problem prescribing it BEFORE the special contract with the new medicine), I was flat out discharged from their care.

My family care Dr recommend that I report them. There isn't much else, unless you want to get involved in a law suit (that I know of). But, this clinic did get fined, and was shut down for a while during an investigation (I was not the only one who complained).

But, I hope so much that you have great success with this new Dr. And that you are able to be put back together!!! 27 is WAAAAAAY too young to have that much pain, disability and frustration!

Good luck!
Laura

[chiliphil1]

I ran out of space to type on that one!

I'm also planning to make the decision on another surgery based on what the doctor says in 2 weeks. First, I will NOT take Tramadol ever again, if he says that's his plan I won't do it. If he plans to FORCE me into therapy if I say it makes it worse, I won't do it. Finally, if he's not willing to give me Norco or an equivalent pain med that actually works without side effects and then properly taper me from it, I won't do it. This guy is going to have to answer a lot of questions the right way.

I'm sorry for the long winded post. I have been dealing with this for almost 2 years now and I'm just tired of it and I have nowhere to vent. Thank you for reading all of it.

BTW, one more thing I want to mention. I hope my post didn't make me sound like some junkie. I know I mentioned several times that I want Norco for pain relief. There is a very specific reason for that, it works and it does not cause me side effects. I don't have withdrawals from it, and I don't develop an addiction to it. I had percocet at one point but it made me sick, I had to tell them I didn't want that anymore. Norco is one of the weaker opioids, so I can promise it isn't an addiction thing that makes me want it. I don't know if the doctor thought I was looking for drugs, but I definately got that impression several times.