I recently had hip surgery. I am a chronic pain sufferer from Ankylosing Spondylitis and Osteoarthritis. Prior to my medical retirement from military service after 18 years I was a fully employed active duty member.
I would like to know if you could recommend any place I can put my recent hip surgeon on report?
Following my hip surgery he prescribed me Motrin and told me to buy some Tylenol at Walmart.
This is not his usual protocol for pain control following hip surgery. He usually prescribed strong pain killers. But, at our first appointment he began it by lecturing me on opiate pain management and the “recent Washington state laws” which were going to ensure my “high” level of pain medication would be stopped soon enough. I am well versed in the laws here and he did not know what he was talking about. Not to mention my levels of pain management are not considered high even under the CDC “suggestions” at 30 mg long acting Oxycodone per 24 hours with two 5 mg immediate release maximum Oxycodone per 24 hours for break through pain.
A month before my surgery I talked both with my pain management doctor and the surgeon’s assistant and an understanding was they would work together on post pain surgery management. Of course his excuse was “they didn’t call me” and “you have a contact” (my contract allows for post surgery pain prescriptions).
I don’t like how this went down and I am now talking to my pain management who are, of course passing the buck.
Any reporting suggestions you can offer would be greatly appreciated. I don’t wish to let this just pass-this surgeon needs to leave his picket sign at home and not involve his private opinions in his patient care. In addition, the agreement in advance to work with my pain management doctors should have been honored. I feel like I was deliberately misled and treated like a low life and a drug addict.
Thank you for your patience
Filed under: General Problems
I am so sorry to the author of this post. I’ve been there twice before. I’ll never have surgery again because of this. I refuse. I’d rather live with whatever the issue is because I won’t give another doctor the satisfaction of lying to my face and then pulling the rug out from under me when I can no longer do anything about it. I was scheduled to have another surgery a couple years ago and I backed out at the last moment because I was afraid of going through that again. Not having the surgery has had a relatively large effect on my health, but being treated like a junkie because I have chronic pain and being lied to because they can have had a seriously detrimental effect on my mental health which has only served to fuel a lack of trust with any new doctor that I have to see. They don’t trust me because I have chronic pain that I take legally and appropriately prescribed pain medications for and I don’t trust them because they have no qualms about lying to not only me, but my spouse and prescribing doctor’s office as well. Calling attorneys yielded no result but being mocked, ridiculed and even chewed out for wanting to sue someone “over pain medication”, which was an absurdly inaccurate assessment of the situation. If I had known then that I could contact state medical boards, I certainly would have. Now that surgeons don’t have to give post surgical pain care, I wouldn’t dare have surgery even if wanted to. In reponse to the author of the email, you can try to contact the medical board or other groups that would generally handle this type of thing, but unfortunately for us they don’t have to give post surgical pain management to us after surgery anymore. Pain patient or not. The only thing we can do to avoid this happening is to avoid surgery. That’s not advice by the way, I’m just stating that it’s the only surefire way to not be left in pain and holding the bag afterward. It’s disgusting because if you trust a doctor enough to let them cut you open, you should be able to trust them enough to be responsible for the entire affair.
This TERRIFIES me!!!!!I am due for this exact procedure and having major ambivelence because I am sure I will get the same poor treatment.They truly dont care if we do die.If it was any other issue than pain,it would be taken to court as malpractice,Again,I say,at some point this will erupt into violence of some sort,or robberies at the very least.Not to mention thefts!All manner of crimes is the end result of a stranglehold on a neccesary item of life.Call the White House.Of course the Pres.will never hear about it or he’d help,I truly believe that.But I told them you wont have my vote next election if this isnt adjusted.For those that think one vote makes no matter,check your history-Adolph Hitler won his election by less than 10 votes!Never believe your vote and voice dont count!!!!!
What is the name of your doctor? I would like to congratulate him for understanding the future of any doctor writing a prescription for a pain medicine. If you want to change this future for all Americans, then support http://www.doctorsofcourage.org with a membership and learn what can turn this around.
Reporting the doctor might make you feel better. But that is all you will accomplish.
When someone is in pain management and has surgery. It is customary for the surgeon to prescribe inpatient and discharge pain meds.
I never got xtra pain meds because I was already on a “high” dose. Pain doctor as well as Ortho all said no xtra. They kept me the same. This was in 2004 and 2006 for hips and 1998 for knees. FYI.
Only perk I got was a dilaudid pain “button” only while in the hospital. Once I got out no xtra for surgery and that was fine!
Some surgeons require patients on high doses. to taper down before surgery. It reduces the risk of postop complications.
that presumes that the pt will not go into a hypertensive crisis from the untreated pain. or some other of the pt’s co-morbidity issues don’t go into crisis mode
A competent Surgeon and Anesthesiologists know how to compensate for what the patient is already taking. NEVER once was I asked in 17years to reduce my dose for surgery. As an ICU RN I’ve never seen this done either. If your surgeon is trying to taper you before surgery, find a new surgeon. In 17yrs I’ve had 3 pacemakers, brain surgery, and an ACDF of my C5-6.