I did everything that I was supposed to do.
I am so angry at Mark's doctor, furious really.
On Monday, I took Mark to the doctor for the back pain that he's been suffering from, I did everything that you're supposed to do when you're having a medical problem, you go to your primary care doctor for help.
His doctor wasn't actually there, he was having surgery done on himself, he won't be back until Monday, so we saw the physicians assistant.
Mark and I told her all about the pain he's been having and why it took so long for us to get him to a doctor.
Mark had been in pain for months on end but didn't tell me because of everything that I was going through, but he would ask me for Tylenol or something, he would just say he was having a backache, but it got to the point that he was asking for more and more Tylenol, so I made him tell me how long he's been in pain and how bad it is using the 1-10 pain scale.
He's been in pain for months and his pain is averaging between and 8-9 all of the time.
So I took him to the doctor, explained it all, she had him do the bend over check for scoliosis because of my history and because it's genetic, hereditary.
When he bent over, as soon as he bent over, I saw it, the rib hump on the left side.
She gave him a referral for an orthopedic and I asked her about the pain, how is she going to treat his pain because he's going through a bottle of 100 Tylenol every week by himself.
That stuff kills your stomach, liver, and kidneys, it's bad to take that much.
She said she wasn't going to give him anything, she said and I quote, "If the pain is that bad, take him to the ER."
The orthopedists office is right next door to his doctor's office, so I went in and scheduled his appointment right away, they can't see him until the 10th, so I went back over to the docs and told her that and asked again what she could do for his pain, and again, she said to take him to the ER.
Mark said he didn't want to go to the ER, it takes too long, he was in so much pain he just wanted to go home.
But he went yesterday, he couldn't take the pain anymore and I couldn't stand him being in that much pain and taking that much Tylenol anymore.
We got in to see a doc pretty fast and I told him what the primary doc said to do, bring him to the ER for pain treatment.
The ER doc was not happy about that, he said they should have taken care of him on Monday, that's what they are supposed to do, take care of their patients and treat them.
But he treated Mark anyway, he checked his spine and said it does look like scoliosis, but it also looks like a herniated disc.
He wrote Mark 3 scripts, 1 for Tramadol for pain, 1 for Flexeril for muscle spasms, and 1 for Prednisone for a steroid treatment, it's should help if it is a herniated disc.
But the ER doc told me to cal Mark's primary doc back on Monday and tell them that sending us to the ER for pain treatment is something that they should have done, and he, (the ER doc) will be calling the primary doc on Monday as well because the ER is for emergencies, not for something his primary doc should have done.
Oh, the physicians assistant did write him a script though, she wrote him a script for what she called the best acne treatment available by prescription, but Mark said he didn't want me to go pick it up, he was kinda pissed about the whole thing, about not being treated right and being made to go spend 4 hours in the ER.
I am hoping beyond hope that when we go to the ortho and they do xrays and stuff, that it won't be scoli, that it will be a herniated disc just throwing his spine out of alignment, herniated discs can make it appear like scoli because the disc is bulging so much that it causes the spine to curve.
That's what I'm hoping for.
I'm hoping that the initial diagnosis is wrong, the ER doc said he can see the rib hump but he can also detect a herniated disc, so it could be that or it could be both.
I am so hoping it's just a bad disc, I do not want Mark to have to go through everything that I've gone through.
It's no way to spend the rest of your life.
I don't want this for Mark, or Sebastian, I don't want either of them to have scoliosis.
Comments
Kat, I'd definitely try to find a new doc for your sons. This sounds a lot like Mike's former doc, aka *The Quack*. One of the reasons he spent so much time in the hospital was that The Quack kept telling him to go to the ER, he (The Quack) waited until the symptoms got bad enough to warrant hospitalization. In the meantime, all The Quack did was increase the does of a med that had stopped working. A simple Google search told me that this pill can and does stop working, and there are alternatives. Which he's on now, because he fired The Quack and now goes to Lahey Clinic.
Mike actually had an appointment with The Quack when the swelling in his feet was getting worse. Dr. Q did absolutely nothing but upping the dose (for the umpteenth time) of the diuretics that had stopped working. He saw the guy for a total of five minutes. I know, I was there.
YES. Mark should have been treated at his appointment, given whatever pain meds he needs. No need to bog down the ER for this. It's irresponsible.
You have every right to be angry, and so does Mark.
I hope the orthopedist appointment goes well, and that they can do something for Mark now. Keeping all available appendages crossed for you all!
Posted by: Christine | September 3, 2009 4:11 PM
Why are you complaining? Haven't you heard? We have the best health care system in the world. So, just shut up and deal with it! ;)
Posted by: Solonor | September 3, 2009 10:38 PM
Yup, best damn health care in the world. *sarcasm*
It just really sucks when you do what your insurance tells you to do, go to your primary care doc for non-emergencies, and then your primary tells you to go to the ER to be treated because they won't.
The best damn health care system loves to pass the buck, make sure that everyone gets their buck.
All of the doctors and hospitals and the insurance companies, all have their hands out wanting some of your money, so they tell you to go to each and every one of them so that they can all make money off of your illness or injury yet your illness or injury won't actually be treated.
I just love being jerked around.
Posted by: Kat | September 3, 2009 10:47 PM
Those are the kind of docs that have NO compassion for pain. When I got the first cat bite I had the P.A. was totally compassionate. She prescribed me good pain meds and enough of them for me to not be in pain. The infection was bad but she didn't see a need to cut it open and drain it unless the antibiotics did not work. The second P.A. for the next cat bite which was actually worse but I didn't wait as long to get it looked at right away said it needed to be cut open and cleaned. My mom tried to tell him that the antibiotics worked before but of course he knew better then anyone. He cut open and X on my wrist. He numbed the spot but I could feel it cutting and hurting. Then he wanted it to be open so that it could drain. After cutting me open....ALL THE WAY TO THE BONE...he didn't offer me any pain meds. My mom even said "what should she do for the pain?" the doctor said "Oh it should be numb for a few hours". My loving mother even asked the nurse. She said the same thing. Let me tell you "I WAS IN HORRIBLE PAIN" I laid on the couch with my arm elevated. I also took two tylenols and three ibuprophen. I don't know if your son can take ibuprophen but the combo of those actually works very well for over the counter. I did ask three different doctors if that was okay to do and they all said it was acceptable. When I went back for a follow up this Dr was so proud of his handy work and how it was healing so well. It was a gaping X on my wrist that my mom covered up for me when we went into public it was that bad. This Dr did say "geez after you left I felt SO bad about forgetting to give you anything for the pain. I thought about it all weekend. You must have been in bad pain huh?" I said "yes I really was this was an absolutely horrible weekend now that you mention it". He just reiterated how bad he felt. He didn't feel that bad because he could have called me and phoned something in. The P.A. before him phoned everything in because she felt so bad for me she didn't want me to have to wait. This is the difference between someone doing a "job" and someone caring about people. He made me so disgusted because I KNEW what he could have done and saw what he did do. I now have what looks like a self inflicted scar in the shape of an X on my wrist that is raised and purple. I had a bad experience with nurse practioner. I was having horrible pain, horrible so that I was throwing up from the pain. She didn't "feel" any cysts on my ovaries and said that it was probably from my period. I don't think she believed me. She told me to take Aleve and that I could take three at a time she also said I could take them more often then the bottle said. I believed her because pill bottles say "or as prescribed by a doctor" So I did.......and ended up getting chemical hepatitis. I could have had LIVER FAILURE. Turned out when I had an MRI that I have PCOS very severe PCOS which means the cysts were IN my ovaries which is why she couldn't feel them. They had been bursting leading me to this horrible pain. I could have died of liver failure from this lack of care. This is what happens when doctors do not do what they should and have sympathy for pain. People like me will do whatever to get out of this pain and could end up dying. They can say whatever they want but what is comes down to is not being compassionate and not being "good" at what they do. Sure drug addicts come in....sure they scam but what is worse....giving a scammer a script ONCE because they will come back and this time the Dr can say no OR leaving someone innocent and hurt in pain just so you don't have to worry about it. If that was her reason not to......... like many doctors use as a reason I would say she needs to find a new profession because she is supposed to be helping and healing not being too afraid to. If her reason was that she didn't think he would need it then she needs a job where she can only think about herself because peoples well being should not be in her hands. I am sure you can tell how passionate and angry I get about this topic. Your son is in PAIN and this person that is supposed to do no harm doesn't care and that is harmful in so many ways!!!
Posted by: Alisha | September 4, 2009 7:53 AM
I hate doctors who refuse to acknowledge that hey, maybe their patient is in PAIN and would appreciate something more than OTC stuff that isn't good in large doses. I'm so sorry that you had to go through the major hassle of taking a trip to the ER just to get Mark some pain meds. And on that note, I hope they help!
I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that Mark's problems are nothing more than a herniated disc, and not scoliosis! *hug* Hang in there Kat. You're a great mom, it's obvious from your posts that you care about your boys more than anything.
Posted by: Jenn | September 4, 2009 10:58 PM