This will probably be long , but I'm mad! To start I went to my pain management doctor who has no doubt I'm in pain, but treats me like I don't deserve medical attention. I'm sure there will be many who will agree, but wonder if there is anyone else with this problem.
Let me tell you my medical history in short. I was a teenage mother (15) raised 3 pretty good kids. Had cervical cancer at 18 which was originally miss-diagnosed as Gonorrhea . Then jump to 2002, having chest and arm pain and was told it was anxiety, had a stress test and was sent home and told there was nothing wrong, had a heart attack that night! started talking med's, (I am a smoker so of course it was my fault even though my father died of a massive heart attack when I was 12) they put a stint in and it collapsed in a couple of months. about 6 months after the first attack I went in to the emergency room at the same hospital, same doctors! I was told that there was nothing wrong but maybe to much sun and if I kept coming to emergency I would be looked at that I was just coming in for pain relief but we would wait and see what the blood test said, it said I had another heart attack! I laid in the the hospital for a week on strong pain killers while my left ventricle died off because my doctor didn't want to mess with it anymore, I have had at least 10 heart catheters. I go get a second opinion after all of this and the next doctor says he should not have let it die off so he goes back in but it is to late, can't reopen it so I am permanently disabled. Then in 2007 I start having trouble with severe pain in my legs, my disks are all bulging and the doctor never does another mri , mean time I'm told to get a second opinion, well that made the doctor mad and emails were sent out and the doctor I went to treated me horribly and said nothing was wrong with me, finally went to chiropractor, she said something was very wrong, had an mri that day and the disk had ruptured, had surgery 2 days later. Again my fault cause I smoke and didn't take care of myself. just before Christmas had a kidney stone, went to emergency room, they sent me home to pass it, I called my heart doctor she looked at X-ray and said you need surgery, I go to the urologist it is embedded in my kidney, guess what , my fault again because I smoke! I had to stop physical therapy for my back because they had to put a stint in, I call to make an appointment again with pain doctor, they tell me to wait for appointment to start up rehab again so I go to see him yesterday, and by the way I really would rathere stick a screwdriver in my gut then see him again, but He is all I have left in this area. He first made me feel like the lowest form of life for not finishing rehab and its my fault for living an unhealthy lifestyle that I am having so many health issues and had I takin better care of my self my back wouldn't be deteriating, I also have scoliosis. I have plenty more horror stories like the time I had a heart catheter and was pretty alert through the whole thing and they played the song Brick house and kept uncovering my chest , which is not necessary for this procedure. anyway!
I get that smoking isn't a good thing and I get that I probably led a hard life, I worked factory jobs, and other types that were hard on my body, I put my kids first and didn't always take care of myself, I GET IT! But at 48 its kinda done and over. I have 7 grand kids and have lost 4 because I have also passed a rare blood disease to my daughters, have tried to quit smoking. This doctor (and others) left me feeling like I don't deserve to live!
Honestly, they don't help me to feel like quitting the smoking, They have left me feeling like not seeing another doctor, finishing my unhealthy lifestyle and dying whenever my time is up! I left there feeling so depressed and so small. Is this the new bedside manor? making someone feel like they don't deserve to live? Don't deserve medical help?
Anyone else with this problem? I have tried to stand up for myself with these doctors and it has just caused me more trouble, so when they tell you to be your own advocate be careful because it can back fire on you!
Mad patient
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Wow.. sorry to hear you are feeling so low. I have not had a problem with dr's to this extent, but they do, at times have a way of making you feel like you are crazy or that nothing is wrong!!!
in my opinion, when this dr makes you feel that way.. small.. like you don't deserve help.. tell him just that!! He seems to need to be made aware of his bad bed side manner. He should not make you feel this way.
Sorry.. hope you feel better.
Thank you, I have thought about sending him this!
i'm not sure where you live but if you live in middle TN there are two offices called Three Rivers Community Health. One is located in Linden and the other in Lyles. They accept all insurances for the most part except for health springs i think and they even take people without insurance. they are a state funded facility so they do a sliding fee for the uninsured based on household income. the newest doctor there who is now the medical director of the two facilities is a pediatrician and internal medicine. he also works at the hospital in my county one day a week and does some other work on the side. he's a great doctor and has a great bedside mannor. i did my student extern under him for school. he's patient and talks to you in a way in which you understand. now that i'm finished with school i take my kids, husband, and myself to see him. i hope this helps, but if you live close enough to go to one of the clinics i think you'd like them. most days he's at the lyles clinic.
Thanks,
I live in Bloomington, In
Is there a reason you say your pain specialist is the only one in town? I Googled and found several pain specialists there, including one in Bloomington Hospital. Check around, if you have to look elsewhere, close to where you live if you can. There is no reason you have to put up with this crap.
I realize everyday how lucky I am to have the Primary Care doctor I have. He has a vast knowledge about everything. I have Interstitial Cystitis and Fibromyalgia, both conditions that many doctors don't know about, or believe that they exist only in your head. I have pictures of my bladder to prove IC is real. He recognized right away that I had IC when I felt like I had a bladder infection but none was found. I have a urologist now who has tried every treatment for IC with no improvement, so I am on Pain Management. He is also a wonderful doctor. I also have a Rheumatologist who is also great.
I was extremely healthy until I turned 40. I worked at one job 6 1/2 years before I had to take a sick day. When I did, they were worried that it was serious. I am now disabled at 54 and have been for 5 years. I am overweight, but other than that I have always been healthy. I don't smoke and drink rarely as my mother died of alcoholism and emphysema, and have sister who has COPD from smoking.
No one knows the cause of IC and Fibromyalgia, but more women than men suffer from these conditions, and many with IC have Fibromyalgia.
Hang in there, and if possible find doctors who know what they are doing.
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