Surgery vs Pain meds

[SS MAYFLOAT]

For the last 6 years my wife has been plaqued by hip pain. She is still mobile and gets around better and faster than a teenager. During the day she doen't take anything for the pain. At night is a different story.

About a month ago her orthopedic doc retired causing her to find a new doc. The new doc says he won't prescibe any pain meds because she needs the hip replaced now. Her family doc said she couldn't help either because of criteria that she doesn't meet to receive them. In turn the family doc sent her to a pain management clinic. He concured that a hip replacement is needed now and he can't prescibe any pain meds either.

Keep in mind she only needs something to help her through the night to get some good quality sleep. Its not a daily thing she needs to get through the day.

There has to be a reason why they are doing this and I feel it is a government thing. I feel this way because of they don't like people on medication.

We are not financially stable enough now to have her off work. In 2 years, our bills will be 85% paid off and she will be able to take off work to have the hip replacement. This has been our goal for the last 4 years.

What I find interesting is that she gets offers from her friends and docs in the ER room at the hospital that want to help her out. She being a strict person on rules and regs,,,,,,she refuses to take them up on their offer. She wants anything and everything documented. It just burns me when the docs are forcing her to deal with the pain herself. They say when the pain is bad enough that she will have the surgery done. DUH! Her retired doc told her that she should go as long as she can without the procedure. He said that when she is in the middle 50's would be a good time and about the time he projects that the bone loss will require it.

I just don't see why they are forcing her to get the surgery while she is still mobile and without pain during the day. A bit too early in our opinion. However, they feel she doesn't require any pain meds. Meanwhile there are numerous opportunities to get them off the street. Go Figure........

 

[Vlad D Impeller]

Re: Surgery vs Pain meds

Sorry to hear of your wife's discomfort, what pain medication was she taking?

I once suffered emensely from an addiction to pain killers. Addiction to steriod enhanced pain killers have become such a common phenomenon in modern times, so much so that insurance companies are now directly involved in many doctors prescription directives.
Thanks to the abundance in frivolous lawsuit abuse.

 

[Turin]

Re: Surgery vs Pain meds

Addiction to steroid enhanced pain killers have become such a common phenomenon in modern times,

They say.

Its just that a lot of people are in pain.
so Give them meds.
But, no the insurance company's only think about the money..

Better on meds than on a surgeon's table if it was me..

 

[JB]

Re: Surgery vs Pain meds

I really feel for you and for your wife, SS.

Only board certified orthopedic specialists are qualified to make any judgements on her condition or appropriate therapy. Please don't accept witch doctor recommendations or advice from any one else.

If you are dissatisfied or suspicious of a diagnosis or recommendation get more opinions from qualified specialists.

 

[Terry Olson]

Re: Surgery vs Pain meds

I really feel for you and for your wife, SS.

Only board certified orthopedic specialists are qualified to make any judgements on her condition or appropriate therapy. Please don't accept witch doctor recommendations or advice from any one else.

If you are dissatisfied or suspicious of a diagnosis or recommendation get more opinions from qualified specialists.

I'm with JB - you need the advice of people who are qualified to provide a competent medical opinion. You also have to be willing to accept and follow their advice, even if you don't like it. I recognize that you're writing as much to vent your frustration as to seek advice, but at the end of the day you have to place your trust and faith in those who have the training and experience to know what they're talking about. If you don't have that kind of confidence in the current medical provider find one you're comfortable with and see what they have to say about it.

 

[Twidget]

Re: Surgery vs Pain meds

JB and Terry Olson are absolutely correct.

I would add that my Dad kept putting off his hip replacement surgery and it made the operation last an extra couple of hours adding to his pain during recovery. His was an extreme case, I am sure.

 

[Plainsman]

Re: Surgery vs Pain meds

I don't think it's about government SS, it more about the $$$$ that the doc's make over giving her some relief at night.

I'm with JB on this one.

 

[OldMercsRule]

Re: Surgery vs Pain meds

I really feel for you and for your wife, SS.

Only board certified orthopedic specialists are qualified to make any judgements on her condition or appropriate therapy. Please don't accept witch doctor recommendations or advice from any one else.

If you are dissatisfied or suspicious of a diagnosis or recommendation get more opinions from qualified specialists.

Spot on as usual. JR

 

[ZmOz]

Re: Surgery vs Pain meds

Sounds like BS to me that they won't give her any pain meds. It shouldn't be the doctor's decision whether to have surgery or just stay on meds, it should be your wife's decision with the appropriate medical advice. I'm having a similar problem with my doctors, they're way too stingy with the pain meds when I really need them. I'm having a lot of mysterious pain they haven't been able to diagnose, but a tiny bit of codeine makes it go away. I'm not addicted and don't need it often enough to become addicted, but they won't give me any more, and I don't even have the option of surgery. The problem is our stupid "war on drugs" and some ridiculous federal restrictions on narcotics. They give me literally thousands of dollars worth of other crap pills with worse side effects, but they aren't controlled substances so they're "ok".

Instead of using a small dose of codeine, they basically forced me to get a medical marijuana card. They simply won't give me any other drugs that help, yet they allow me to have up to 1.5 POUNDS of weed.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Surgery vs Pain meds

Well she got a copy of the letter the pain managment doc sent her physician. It turns out that doc only was seeing her as a consultant. Huh? He told her that she was misled into thinking he was going to help her with treatment. Its odd that both her physican and orthopedic surgeon thought he was going to prescribe some meds for her pain.

Instead he said she had two options. Shots in the hip that would put her down for 3 to 4 days or the surgery. Sorry to say, but this is in my opinion as forcing her to suffer.

Some of the docs at the ER told her that when it comes to narcotics their hands are tied. Certain things have to be met in order to prescibe them. So WHO is tieing their hands? There has been a few say it was from the episode with Rush Limbaugh and his pain med problem that started this problem.

If my wife was not as mobile or had to sit down for the majority of the day because of pain, then yes the surgery is the answer.

I look at it like this. Say her hip is like a 50,000 mile tire. The tire now only has 15,000 miles on it. It has run over a few nails and has some holes in it. Do you plug it and air it up, or do you get a brand new tire? However keep in mind that you only have enough money to eat or money for a tire. What do you do? You do a compromise and plug it, air it, and still can eat. Then you can plan to replace the tire a bit later when you can afford to do it without causing your family to go hungry.

Now here is another problem about looking for a qualified doc to help her out. Isn't that considered doctor shopping? So now she is forced to endure pain and suffering as not to doctor shop.

If our circumstances here was more stable, I wouldn't have any problem having her go ahead with the surgery. She is so close to becoming a nurse, she has just this quarter to finish and then the 18 months of her clinicals. By that time she will have accomplished her goal and we will be sitting well with our finances.

Right now I'm trying to decide to sell my boat in order to help compensate for her being off work. She doesn't want me to sell it because we both have worked hard to achieve a nice boat we both can enjoy. Even getting a loan is not an option at this time. Our credit is on hold for the next two years. As long as our CCards are in this program, we cannot obtain extra or new credit in any form. Yeah, it sucks but a dang good thing as well.

If it was about the money, it would seem that a monthly visit for two years before the surgery would add more to the docs bank account than jumping in a doing the surgery. More office visits means more money. Then the other scenerio,,If we did not have insurance, I bet pain meds would be prescribed because there wouldn't be any money for the surgery.

Sorry to be frustrated, but this is driving me nutz!

 

[Plainsman]

Re: Surgery vs Pain meds

I'm not sure about the private sector, but I went to the VA a few weeks ago because I am experiencing pain in my leg because of siatica (sp) and was given 2 weeks of vicoden on the spot. No MRI, no real exam.

Has she been to another doctor for a second or third opinion?

 

[Vlad D Impeller]

Re: Surgery vs Pain meds

I'm not sure about the private sector, but I went to the VA a few weeks ago because I am experiencing pain in my leg because of siatica (sp) and was given 2 weeks of vicoden on the spot. No MRI, no real exam.

Has she been to another doctor for a second or third opinion?

It appears that you're in need a second opinion as well.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Surgery vs Pain meds

Has she been to another doctor for a second or third opinion?

1st doc diagnoised prescribe davacets for the first 5 years, just recentely retired. Refered to another ortho doc in a nearby town and sent to a pain management clinic.

2nd ortho doc set with her for 90 minuets and looked at xrays and MRI's and agreed with 1st doc. 2nd doc will only prescibe davacets only.

1st Pain Manager would only prescibe morphine sulfate based pain killers. Morphine is a pain killer IMO and not a pain med. When she would take one, she was like a zombie. Not the way my wifes wants to be. She tried 3 times for the 1st Pain in the arse Manger to give her something else. No luck, she walked out on the doc.

2nd doc suggested to her primary care physician to see a different pain management that deals with the narcotics. So this would be pain management number 3.

2nd Pain Manger doc agreed also that her hip is real bad and needs replaced and that she can experience pain due to it. DUH DUH DUH. However he wanted her to do injections and send her to therapy. Yeah,,,,therapy, that is just going to increase the time of the replacement.

My wife cannot take any anti-inflamatories. It put her in the hospital on two different occasions. Her hip is not worn to the top of the socket like most is. It is wearing straight into the socket.

The 2nd Pain Doc did send a letter out to the other ortho doc and her primary care physican. So hopefully that will give her doctor probable cause to prescibe some right meds that she needs.

Two things that I can't stand and that is to see my wife or kids cry.

 

[Fly Rod]

Re: Surgery vs Pain meds

First, I would only take what we say here very litely, we are not medical doctors.
Sometimes when a doctor says one thing, then you may want to get a second opinion from the same type of a doctor, not a QUACK.

There could be other things that play into your wife needing surgery,such as a degenerative hip from the loss of bone density from the loss of calcium of which is a frequent problem with women.

We are a pill head society in this country, it's the number one reason why we are living longer.

 

[JRJ]

Re: Surgery vs Pain meds

A friend of mine put off a hip replacement and suffered the pain for years waiting for the taxpayers to pay. At 64, he had the hip done and wishes he had done it a lot sooner. Good luck to your wife.