Finally Getting Somewhere

Unable to stand the pain in my hips any longer, I finally made an appointment with my primary care physician on March 1. He is an amazing, and very caring doctor. He is also my daughter's physician and delivered my grandson. I wanted to address the issue of my lumbar not being included in the MRI back in September that my neurologist ordered. I felt it was very odd (to say the least) that since the pain began in my hips, and has continued to get worse throughout my hips, that she would not have included that section in an MRI that proved to be very difficult to accomplish. The first attempt was no good because my legs will not go straight, and began spasming as soon as I was in the machine and then I had a subsequent panic attack. I was then referred to an open MRI, where once again the images were blurry because of the spasms that I can not control, nor can any medication we've tried, and I was claustrophobic even in the open machine. So, finally, I was put under anesthesia to get the MRI of my thoracic vertebrae which turned out to be clean - aside from some normal degeneration.

Even the technicians preparing me for the MRI were a little baffled that my lumbar was not being included. Now, it has been months that have passed, all of which I have suffered in excruciating pain, lost night after night of sleep, struggled with getting any kind of substantial pain relief, and I am finally heading to an MRI of my lumbar section on March 14, all thanks to my primary care physician who listened, and agreed with me, and took the time to really care.

Not only did he put in the order for the lumbar MRI, but he also gave me a cortisone shot in my left hip, which is the hip that makes me want to just jump in front of a train it hurts so bad, and I do believe he put in a recommendation to my pain doctor for the Fentanyl patch. In one visit, he did what three doctors over the course of several months were too negligent to accomplish.

So, now I am looking forward to what the MRI on March 14 will show. Before that I have an appointment with my pain doctor (whom I loathe) on March 8, where I will find out if in fact my primary put in an order for the Fentanyl patch. That will be substantial pain relief that I should have had this entire time. After the MRI on the 14th, I then head down to Minneapolis on March 20 to stay the night and go to a 9:00 am appointment with U of M for further care. It's such a shame I have to go 7 hours away from my home to get the proper care, but I am looking forward to letting these doctors get their hands and minds on my case and hopefully make some real progress in making me well.