Question:
Hi, I’m a newbie that recently posted and I appreciated the response I got. I hope its okay for me to vent here about my chronic (8 year long) pain experience. I’m supposedly getting treatment, and I got to visit our local military hospital’s multi-discipline pain clinic today…it was awful. I’m sitting here crying. First the anesthesiologist was a dykey military woman that said "start from the beginning." So I did. Told her about conditions I’ve had since birth, surgery I had, etc. THen she looked at my back and during the exam she asked me if my boobs have always been this size, asked me what size they were and suggested I get a reduction (sure cut my tits off and I’ll be better) because the boobs could be the cause of my upper back pain. Mind you, I’ve been a "D" cup since I was 13. Had no problems until pregnancy at age 24, also have scoliosis which worsened during pregnancy, but she didn’t look at that closely. Then she said I was a "WAY TYPE A" person and that is part of my pain problem. I feel pain others would be able to tolerate. Others that are more relaxed than I am. She also said my weight exacerbates back pain. She said I have ALOT of other psychological issues going on too…so basically she’s out of the loop. Oh, and she’s leaving next week to be gone for 10 weeks NO LOSS! I sat outside their offices and cried until the next docs came. Then the psychology intern came, with another guy. I tried to gloss over past history of anxiety attacks, depression, being raped, child abuse, etc. But he wanted details. All of them. So they all came out. Yuk. I HATE reliving any of that shit. Yes I was beaten severely, yes I was abandoned by mother to live with abuser, yes I was raped, yes I was depressed after rape, yes I’ve used alcohol to numb pain and to cope, yes I’m depressed now, yes I have Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, and YES I have a physical pain condition that gets worse when I have to sit (like at doing a JOB!) So, they said they could help me with biofeedback since I already have a therapist and will be seeing a shrink for medication management. Next act: physiatrist (physical rehab doc). Told me that my scoliosis curve is rotating and that is causing my pain. He said the curve has worsened since I was young (duh I knew that) and that it WASN’T SUPPOSED TO. Hmm…well I guess I’m just unusual huh? He said my leg length was not fully corrected from childhood surgery and that I need to go back to one of those embarassing one inch lifts on the outside of my shoe. He said my frontal rib pain is from rib cage rotation. He said I MUST quit smoking. I said "fix my pain and I will." He said losing weight was important. He said I needed to strengthen my back muscles. Okay, I’ll start exercising as soon as I feel a little more alive as opposed to the mostly DEAD way I’ve been feeling the last month or so. So, here I am, a pincushion, please insult, degrade, demean and interrogate me. I am here to satisfy your curiousity, oh and by the way…can you relieve my pain? I’ll find out next week. Kristine in Hawaii
Response:
Wonder where she (anes) got the idea there were any psych issues going on??????????? I had to take my son to one of those when he was just 2-3, understand what you mean about being poked, prodded, insulted and demeaned. He had little scars in his scalp and behind his ear (no injury to cause the scar-looking places…. do you poke him with a stick? Yeah, then I bring him here. What a crock of nuts. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -BaliKris wrote in message <19990316165919.01619.00000…@ng28.aol.com>… >Hi, I’m a newbie that recently posted and I appreciated the response I got. I >hope its okay for me to vent here about my chronic (8 year long) pain >experience. I’m supposedly getting treatment, and I got to visit our local >military hospital’s multi-discipline pain clinic today…it was awful. I’m >sitting here crying. First the anesthesiologist was a dykey military woman >that said "start from the beginning." So I did. Told her about conditions >I’ve had since birth, surgery I had, etc. THen she looked at my back and >during the exam she asked me if my boobs have always been this size, asked me >what size they were and suggested I get a reduction (sure cut my tits off and >I’ll be better) because the boobs could be the cause of my upper back pain. >Mind you, I’ve been a "D" cup since I was 13. Had no problems until pregnancy >at age 24, also have scoliosis which worsened during pregnancy, but she didn’t >look at that closely. Then she said I was a "WAY TYPE A" person and that is >part of my pain problem. I feel pain others would be able to tolerate. Others >that are more relaxed than I am. She also said my weight exacerbates back pain. >She said I have ALOT of other psychological issues going on too…so basically >she’s out of the loop. Oh, and she’s leaving next week to be gone for 10 >weeks NO LOSS! I sat outside their offices and cried until the next docs came. >Then the psychology intern came, with another guy. I tried to gloss over past >history of anxiety attacks, depression, being raped, child abuse, etc. But he >wanted details. All of them. So they all came out. Yuk. I HATE reliving any >of that shit. Yes I was beaten severely, yes I was abandoned by mother to live >with abuser, yes I was raped, yes I was depressed after rape, yes I’ve used >alcohol to numb pain and to cope, yes I’m depressed now, yes I have >Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, and YES I have a physical pain condition that >gets worse when I have to sit (like at doing a JOB!) So, they said they could >help me with biofeedback since I already have a therapist and will be seeing a >shrink for medication management. >Next act: physiatrist (physical rehab doc). Told me that my scoliosis curve is >rotating and that is causing my pain. He said the curve has worsened since I >was young (duh I knew that) and that it WASN’T SUPPOSED TO. Hmm…well I guess >I’m just unusual huh? He said my leg length was not fully corrected from >childhood surgery and that I need to go back to one of those embarassing one >inch lifts on the outside of my shoe. He said my frontal rib pain is from rib >cage rotation. He said I MUST quit smoking. I said "fix my pain and I will." >He said losing weight was important. He said I needed to strengthen my back >muscles. Okay, I’ll start exercising as soon as I feel a little more alive as >opposed to the mostly DEAD way I’ve been feeling the last month or so. >So, here I am, a pincushion, please insult, degrade, demean and interrogate me. >I am here to satisfy your curiousity, oh and by the way…can you relieve my >pain? I’ll find out next week. >Kristine in Hawaii
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