Day 4 Day 4..Most disheartening doctor comment

G'day guys

So my journaling has asked me today what my most disheartening comment from a doctor was. I've had a few bad ones but this was the worst.

So here's my journal entry..

I had my appointment with a spinal specialist. He was very rushed with me and couldn't even see I was hurting. Probably only looked at me as another number.

He asked for my history. As I started he got angry and asked for the shorter version. When I told him and he looked at my results he said " oh yeah I see, you have degenerative disc. The pain won't ever go away. You could try a steroid shot but it won't help. Only other options are stem cell injections which are experimental or surgery (a spinal fusion). I left the clinic crying. Crying all the way home and more when I got home. Depressed and feeling lower then I'd ever felt before!

It took along time to get of the ground from what that asshole did to me. I'll never forgive him for his total lack of compassion and how indifferent he was about how his narrow minded diagnoses affected the already crushed soul he was addressing.

The irony of how someone in the line of work to fix backs just made one worse isn't lost on me lol. I'm on the path upwards and out of that ditch now. Just wanted to share that journal entry cause I bet you guys have similar ones to share.

Cheers guys
TmsTom

 

I'm sure you'll hear many responses in addition to this one. In 2011, at our local hospital, I was diagnosed with a rare nerve condition called RSD. It is known to be one of the most painful conditions known to the medical community. I have since accepted that it is an exaggerated form of TMS. I was directed to the only neurologist who works with that hospital. She was the coldest human being I have ever come across. Like your doctor, she chided me for writing down my questions. She accused me of exaggerating the pain and when I told her that I could not walk without pain she implied that I was a malingerer looking for a free wheelchair and saying that she could not lie about my inability to walk. Lie? When I told her how very painful it was to go just a few steps she said, "You walk from parking lot!" After I had seen her five times she asked me how my restless leg syndrome was. She had RSD confused with RLS.
My husband and I arrived for her very first appointment of the day. We were there in plenty of time and watched her unpack, etc. My appointment began 15 minutes after it was scheduled but I voiced no objection to her running late. But as our discussion of my condition began she told me that she had other patients to see and we had to leave right away! We had only been there seven minutes. Clearly she did not want me for a patient but she was the only game in town. I have heard from others about her cold attitude and lack of compassion.
Here's another: Upon visiting a rheumatologist, we arrived at 8 AM in the middle of a snowstorm, Here I was hobbling up the ice covered ramp bent in extreme pain as I tried to walk into the office So desperate was I for a solid diagnosis. In other words, it was a supreme effort to get there. A nurse practitioner interviewed me for one hour, consulted with the doctor in private, and the doctor then granted me six minutes. At the end of the visit she smiled the most beautiful smile and said to me, "There is nothing at all that the medical community can do for you with RSD. Have a wonderful day!" Tears.
I was scheduled to see a New Jersey orthopedist that specialized in TMS. He is recommended by some of the doctors on this forum. I was expecting him to ahead with the scheduled evaluation. He spoke me by phone and told me that I would be wasting his time and mine and that he did not want to see me, that I was “Too far gone.” You see, it's the words RSD that set off these doctors. When I asked if he could recommend someone, he told me that nobody would want my case.
So I know what you experienced with the tears!
Is there a class in medical school where the students are taught to dish out hopelessness?
Well, I was journaling one day with the help of one of the TMS books and I realized that I had not yet forgiven that neurologist. So I highly recommend doing so before it goes down into the gut or the subconscious. I had to let it go. But it's not that easy, for here I am writing about it when my feelings were triggered once again by the subject of unfeeling and uncaring doctors.
To end on a positive note, yesterday I visited a pain management specialist. I had to wait six weeks to see him because I read a review that he was personable and caring.
So after all these unpleasant experiences with doctors I had a very positive experience with this man. He said that he sees less patients per day than his colleagues but has found that in his field, what with seeing patients who are in a desperate situation dealing with pain, that his conscience will not allow him to cut them short, ridicule their questions and get them out as fast as possible. This doctor answered all our questions, gave a thorough examination and assured me that he would give me all the time I needed to convey a three-year pain situation to him. I have learned to be concise and usually spend the evening before appointments compiling my questions in such a way so as to not "put off" any doctor.

 

I didn't post on that day, but I will today. I think mine has to be when I was seeing a doctor for the first time concerning surgery on my SI joints. I had been 'forced' by my insurance company to go to a pain clinic before I could see a back surgeon. At the pain clinic, I was given steroid injections into the spine and both SI joints. Wouldn't you know, I received the contaminated steroids. When I finally saw the surgeon, he was much more concerned about the mold growing in my body and was in my face telling me very loudly that I was going to die. I was not well for 18 months, but, obviously, I didn't die. I think I know what I will be writing about this evening. I haven't seen him since. Even writing this is making one SI joint tighten up. BTW, my foot surgeon in the same office is wonderful, though he recently told me my feet are just plain worn out. The truth, yes, but delivered nicely.