This was my first real appointment with the new pain doctor. Same practice as the old one, but a few days before Christmas I got a call to reschedule the series of knee shots that was supposed to start on Dec 24. The appts had to be rescheduled because my pain doctor left the practice. No one, not even his partners, had any warning or knew where he was for a month. Seeing as he was one of the founding docs, and is part owner of the building AND the pharmacy in the building, well, it was a real shock.
I like this doctor, which is nice. She doesn't talk down to me, and she really listens. I explained the Vit D problem, and she asked about a bone scan. I told her I had one done a year ago and know it wasn't good, but have no clue what the results were because my primary care doctor closed up his offices and when I went to the appointment the entire practice just wasn't there. No furniture in the building that I could see, no notice,nothing. Seems more and more docs are doing this and it is causing some real problems for a lot of people in our state. Yuck.
She found the bone scan and came to talk to me some more. Warned that a compression fracture, likely more than one, is going to be n my future. It is what it is, and from the lab work and notes she could see, there isn't much we can do to prevent it. When it happens, it will be a fall or I will sit down funny or bend over and the bone will crumble. It will be pain worse than anything I have had before. I am to call her right away and they can go in and use some kind of cement to fix it. But if you wait too long, it can be very hard to fix and can cause nerve problems. The overall topic came up because I am having problems with my left pinkie and ring fingers tingling and going numb. That was the first symptom of the blown discs n my neck and I didn't realize that they could also be related to a compression fracture.
I asked her about the future because my pain levels are increasing but my medications haven't changed in almost five years. The new doctor said she would not ever put a patient on the levels of the main pain medication that I am on. Seems it can cause heart problems. She was NOT happy to see no EKG or other tests in my file, and didn't realize I heard her grumble quietly to a nurse about the number of my old doctor's patients that are on this medication and had NO heart tests before starting or after years on the medication at high levels. She sounded frustrated and I can understand that.
I also found out where the old doctor is. I intend to send him a letter because he left a very large number of patients thinking they had NO doctor and NO care and were dependent on their medications but might not get them. I pay attention in the waiting room and often chat with others. I seemed to be calmer than many others there, and was upset by the other patients because it was so clear that they were terribly upset. It esp broke my heart to hear some of the older patients.
Anyway, it was quite an interesting appointment. If you know anyone being treated with methadone, PLEASE make sure they have had basic tests to ensure they are not having cardiac issues. Whether it is for addiction or for pain management, apparently there is quite a risk. It should at least be monitored with a baseline and then periodic testing. I am very angry that the old doctor didn't bother to order the test. All he really had to do was check a box on teh insurance form and tell me that it needed to be done. His staff would take care of setting it up, etc.... It isn't like he had to put the little leads on me and run the test or even read the results himself. I know my migraine medication (imitrex) is limited to nine tablets a month because it can cause cardiac problems.
It was a good day though. I took Jess and we ran a couple of errands and did some shopping. I got and AWESOME bead organizer on clearance because the outer box had a small chip in it. It has fifty smaller inside boxes, a scoop and tweezers! Now I can take apart the jewelry I have been getting at the dollar jewelry stores and get them all sorted. I use them for stitching projects and they are so expensive if you buy the ones made for stitching. We had fun and got some things done too.
I like this doctor, which is nice. She doesn't talk down to me, and she really listens. I explained the Vit D problem, and she asked about a bone scan. I told her I had one done a year ago and know it wasn't good, but have no clue what the results were because my primary care doctor closed up his offices and when I went to the appointment the entire practice just wasn't there. No furniture in the building that I could see, no notice,nothing. Seems more and more docs are doing this and it is causing some real problems for a lot of people in our state. Yuck.
She found the bone scan and came to talk to me some more. Warned that a compression fracture, likely more than one, is going to be n my future. It is what it is, and from the lab work and notes she could see, there isn't much we can do to prevent it. When it happens, it will be a fall or I will sit down funny or bend over and the bone will crumble. It will be pain worse than anything I have had before. I am to call her right away and they can go in and use some kind of cement to fix it. But if you wait too long, it can be very hard to fix and can cause nerve problems. The overall topic came up because I am having problems with my left pinkie and ring fingers tingling and going numb. That was the first symptom of the blown discs n my neck and I didn't realize that they could also be related to a compression fracture.
I asked her about the future because my pain levels are increasing but my medications haven't changed in almost five years. The new doctor said she would not ever put a patient on the levels of the main pain medication that I am on. Seems it can cause heart problems. She was NOT happy to see no EKG or other tests in my file, and didn't realize I heard her grumble quietly to a nurse about the number of my old doctor's patients that are on this medication and had NO heart tests before starting or after years on the medication at high levels. She sounded frustrated and I can understand that.
I also found out where the old doctor is. I intend to send him a letter because he left a very large number of patients thinking they had NO doctor and NO care and were dependent on their medications but might not get them. I pay attention in the waiting room and often chat with others. I seemed to be calmer than many others there, and was upset by the other patients because it was so clear that they were terribly upset. It esp broke my heart to hear some of the older patients.
Anyway, it was quite an interesting appointment. If you know anyone being treated with methadone, PLEASE make sure they have had basic tests to ensure they are not having cardiac issues. Whether it is for addiction or for pain management, apparently there is quite a risk. It should at least be monitored with a baseline and then periodic testing. I am very angry that the old doctor didn't bother to order the test. All he really had to do was check a box on teh insurance form and tell me that it needed to be done. His staff would take care of setting it up, etc.... It isn't like he had to put the little leads on me and run the test or even read the results himself. I know my migraine medication (imitrex) is limited to nine tablets a month because it can cause cardiac problems.
It was a good day though. I took Jess and we ran a couple of errands and did some shopping. I got and AWESOME bead organizer on clearance because the outer box had a small chip in it. It has fifty smaller inside boxes, a scoop and tweezers! Now I can take apart the jewelry I have been getting at the dollar jewelry stores and get them all sorted. I use them for stitching projects and they are so expensive if you buy the ones made for stitching. We had fun and got some things done too.