Pain Management Community

This is a letter a wrote to my NPC after my March 17th appt. This will help me to vent and clear up a few things.

I understand that you are just getting to know me. We have only met 3 times since you came to the Clinic. You are the only Practitioner there and have hundreds and hundreds of patients. You are not the first Provider that has flipped out over my medications. You stated that you have been very uncomfortable writing for them from the very beginning but did not have time to address it till now. If that be the case I would have much rather you had told me of your fears and concerns for yourself concerning them and told me you were unable to provide the care and support that I need being such a complicated case and possibly recommended someone else.

I am not upset that you have an issue with the medications, replace them with something else then that would give me the pain management and quality of life that I have worked so hard for over 16 years. You said you needed proof from someone else of all the things we have tried and they have not worked. Even though I have been going to... for over 30 years and you have access to all my medical records there and I had seen my previous primary provider there every 4 to 6 weeks for 10 years you stated you had no x-rays or proof that I needed all this medication. Thus putting the burden on me to prove what you already have access to and wanting to subject me to another MRI that is 90 minutes long, lying flat on my back with is very ,very painful costing hundreds and hundreds of dollars in a closed coffin like machine.

I dropped off at your office copies of all the MRI?s I have had since 1994 up to this month last year. Flexion and extension x-rays, cat scan reports, neurologist reports, EMG reports, radiologist reports on SI joint injections, facet joints injections, trigger point injections and epidurals, ortho spine specialist reports and details of my spinal fusion and lamenectomy. And if you require more proof I will be happy to provide that too. In addition there is documentation of the countless hours of research I have done to better understand my disease, educate my providers and to help me be an active participant in my medical care.

Over the years I have tried over 50 different medications before getting to the combination I have now, I?ve had over 6 years of many forms of physical therapy at 3 times per week, 10 years of various forms of counseling and psychotherapy. Acupuncture, 3 different pain management clinics one of them being...where I had exhausted all their resources and was told they had nothing left to offer me.

Let?s not forget to mention the emotional, physical, social and economic devastation this disease has caused me.

I am upset at your need to tell me that people sell these drugs for lots of money, I am upset at your need to ask me how do I function with them rather than to ask me how I thought I might function without them. I am upset that you adamantly professed your concerns about your license and never once showed concern for my well being as your patient.

I am very aware that the FDA has recommended tighter restrictions for Opioid use and have recently come up with a new set of guidelines because of the reported abuse of this class of drug. This is what I really believe has prompted the fear in the medical community and the need to have all the I?s dotted and the T?s crossed. And believe me mine are. I have seen to it by constantly staying involved in my medical process and making sure that everyone else is kept abreast as to what is going on so there are no surprises.

Please let me know when you are finished looking at the documentation and I will come and pick it up. Also feel free to make copies of anything you need. I am hoping what I have provided you will help eliminate some of your fears and concerns. And if you still find that you cannot comfortably treat me as your patient ( out of room new post to finis