Hopeful about new PM doc

[houghchrst]

Well the PM doc my Rheumie wanted me to see has left the PM business to go back to his first love Anaesthesia so they wanted me to go a little over 50 miles out of town, this is as the crow flies so it is closer to about 70 miles, to U of M for a doc. So out of sheer desperation I called a friend and asked about theirs which is out of town but a lot closer than 50 miles and they accept my insurance, new patients, and my Primary doc is familiar with him so he is taking care of the referrals. Oh God you guys, please pray for this for me. I know that he is good at treating pain with medications because he is treating my friends with them and my rheumie says that is the last option.

My bone scan showed some arthritis in my lower back, hands, feet and right knee. I think there was more but my primary just seemed to scan what he was reading and tell me what he thought was important.

I will also get to see a Neurologist. I told him about my ER trip because of my migraine, I realized I hadn't seen him since before then, was a sub that last visit, and that the headaches were a lot more frequent so he mentioned having a MRA. Will have to look that up.

As for now.......I am absolutely miserable. I think I am having one of the worst FMS flareups compounded by PMS and have spent like 6 days crying on and off and hurting really bad and yesterday was the absolute worst. As I was driving about a mile and a half down the road yesterday I kept having to reming myself where I was going and how to get there. It was ridiculous and I probably shouldn't have even been driving but had to go out. Then I laid in bed for most of the afternoon and evening because I felt so awful and hurt so bad. I can't wait for this to be over.

I really hope you all are having a relatively pain free day and that someone somewhere is getting some sunshine. It seems to be in short supply around here.

[Pennylane]

Oh Christina, I so really hope and pray you find the help you deserve and need with this new pm doc and they are able to get you in fairly quickly sounds like you need to be seen asap. Thankfully he isn't that far away from you either. I will for you and hope you don't have to many painful days till your able to see him.
Penny

[Kathi49]

Christina,

The new PM sounds like a good deal and at least closer. I know how hard it is to find a good one...I will keep my fingers crossed for you. :) And your bone scan sounds a lot like mine did. :eek: :) I am glad I had it done from the simply standpoint I now know where all the "Arthur" is.

Oh, and I feel bad about your driving experience while having a headache too. I can very much relate to your statement about reminding yourself of where you were going and how to get there...AMEN!!! It is a horrible, horrible feeling. And I am glad you get to see a Neurologist as well.

And, oh, no sunshine around here. As a matter of fact I was driving home yesterday from the Uro docs office in pounding rain. Could have been worse though...it could have been ice and snow. :eek: :)

Hang in there I hope your first appointment goes well. :)

[Mark N]

Christina, glad you found a PM that is closer and he sounds like one that is willing to work with different types of pain control.

[MamaRider]

Ya know, I have been seeing the same Pain Doc for like, goshmore than or 6 years I think. He is GREAT. The first day I went in, I had no papaerwork, no xrays, no nothing, but me, and my body and my word. You know what. He looked into my eyes and he said"I beleieve you that you are in a great deal ofpain, and I will NEVER minimilize that pain. I will always believe you, as long as you are truthful." And I have been and he has been great. He has been very kind about my meds, and I have ried to stay within his rules (tho for the first three or so years I wasn't even on a Pain Agreement=Ijust behaved as if I was). My only small complaint now, is that his office has gotten lare and he hire some Drs Aides. the first group were a bit olders, at lesast in their 30's or so, now they looklike teenagers!!! That BOTHERS me. TEENAGERS have control of my medicine!!!! So, I have gone bak to his Thursday groups he has. Ever Thurs, he has wo one hour groups, that you can sit down with him and about 6-7 others and talk about things for an hou, then pick up your monthly script. It also gives you a chance to talk to him for aout 4-5 minutes alone if you need to. Works better for me that talking to teenagers about my med needs.:( lol. Makes me feel alot less OLD!! (I would card either one of these girls if they came into a bar I was working at-they look that young.

And anyway, it is bad enough alot more Drs look younger and younger, I am not sure how many of you are noticing that. I really makes me feel old. (Cops look younger too, I wanna ask them if their mama knows they are carrying a gun!)Old age is NOT FOR SISSIES!!!!

But, this is about Pain Drs. If anyone needs to know about a good one in the Orange Cnty Ca area, Let me know.If you don't mind eventually dealiing with teenagers, my guy is great!!!!!!;)

[Kathi49]

MamaRider,

I hear ya and am with you on this one. I love my own too! He left the original group I was with but I followed him. I was so upset when I heard he was leaving so I asked him if I could follow him. He said, "Honey, you can follow me to the ends of the earth if you want to." :) And you better believe I did. He is also a lot like yours. Sometimes I find myself saying, "I'm sorry." Only because I have so many issues going on that I just don't want to waste his time. But what he said to me was pretty much what yours said to you and added, "I am here to help anyone that walks through that door so do NOT ever apologize."

I love that group approach though that you are speaking of. That is a NEAT idea. I ought to approach my own about that. My GP does that...on his own time. He just has these meetings every Tuesday night where his patients can go in and ask all kinds of questions, talk about nutrition and on and on it goes.

You are making me laugh about age too. :) I KNOW what you are saying. And, honestly, I have made it a point to find doctors my own age or older. Not that younger ones are bad...not saying that at all. But through time and experience I have found that the older ones of course have been around the block a time or two. And I find that they are more willing to listen, don't have a particular mindset and simply have more experience. My ob/gyn for instance is ancient lol, but he is one of the best around. I LOVE talking to him; he is NOT stressed at all, loves what he does and will talk for as long as you want to. Oh, and in the past I felt I needed to make an appointment with him to discuss hormone treatments. The last time I had a consult he told me, "Oh, just call me on the phone...you don't have to come in." So, I started doing that and sure enough he returns my calls...usually around lunchtime and will just talk and talk LOL! So, there is something to be said for being OLDER LOL! And he is the biggest jokester there is! My mom and my sister go to him as well as they are always coming back with stories of the things he teased them about. Oh, and he had my sister sooo upset after her hysterectomy; told her right afterwards that he had left some instruments inside and would have to open her back up. And she fell for it LOL! Sounds kind of mean I know...but he busted out laughing because he KNOWS my sister gets uptight about EVERYTHING! It was just his way of teasing her and getting her to lighten up.

On the other side of the coin I saw a younger PM once simply because my own was on leave. I am sorry and I hate to say this because getting any information or any feedback I should say, was like pulling teeth. Yet, my husband uses this same younger PM and doesn't have a problem with him. But also my husband is the type to just get done whatever needs to be done and leave LOL! But it bothers me...I usually want more feedback. :)

[BrokenBladder]

Christina,

I hope this new PM is the answer to your prayers!! We all need good doctors in our corner and it's about time that you found one in the PM area!!

Well I live in Florida but I wouldn't get all excited about the sun over the last few days. We had a couple of cloudy days followed up by an extremely rainy day yesterday and now this morning it's COLD. Well I guess I should say it's cold to me. LOL!! I doubt most of you would think that 51 degree's is cold, but it shivers me timbers.