Friday, December 12, 2008

At the Doctors office again

I had to go to the Dr. when I was 12 years old for a physical and for shots. My Dr. did all the normal things, tested my reflexes, looked in my ears, blah, blah. Then she asks me if I have any pain anywhere. I said well, yeah I have that pain in my back like usual. She asked my more about it. I thought it was odd that she cared about the pain in my back.
In fact I was actually a bit annoyed. I had been into the office for other things, she never cared about my back. My mother even started making me fill out my own medical records well before that visit. I put on the paper that my back hurts all the time and that I get headaches. I just didn’t understand why she cared all the sudden. Like she didn’t have the information sitting right in her hand.
Now, I realize Dr.’s don’t usually read the information you fill out on the paper. I always fill it out though, because they must have us fill it out for some reason, maybe it is insurance or maybe they hope you won’t fill it out so they can say I didn’t know.
So, she said I should do some physical therapy. I told I did it and I still have pain. She said well, why don’t you just try it again. I’ll send you to a different clinic. Between my first time to the Dr. for my pain and this visit my Dr. had retired and I had another lady. I didn’t really like her. This me made me think she thought she was better then my last Dr. I rolled my eyes and took the prescription.
I went to the physical therapy office. They said, okay your doctor has set you up for 6 appointments. So, I got out my calendar and scheduled them all. Once again nobody said, now if the pain doesn’t go away in 6 appointments all you have to do is make another appointment with your doctor and get another prescription. I had never even thought of anything like that. This time they told me I had a "tilted pelvis". They also said that sitting so straight all the time was making thing worse for me. I was straining muscles that were already strained from the tilt.
Now, something else also happened at this visit. The therapist to determine a tilt kept digging his knuckles into my hip joint. So, after six visits to the physical therapist not only did my back still hurt, now my hips did too. In fact they continued to hurt for about a year and a half. I was given tubing, exercises (some of the same as last time) told I could take more then the adult prescribed amount of Tylenol and went on my way.
So this is what I thought physical therapy was. You get six visits, you get poke and prodded, you get some tubing, a sheet of exercises and you go home. You deal with our pain using the tools you were given. You take your medicines and you use your heating pad. At this point in my life it was all normal. Everyone was different, and for me this was just normal life.
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3 comments:

  1. Hmm... if you hit a rut with Western medicine maybe you should try Asian curative massages. I hope it'll work out :)

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  2. I did not start suffering my chronic pain until after I had my children but can sympathize with the doctor appointments and the back and forth stuff they make you do.
    For now, I work through my pain as they pills they gave me made me want to sleep all of the time, and I could not do that.
    I've tried alternative therapies too, and while they worked short term, they were very costly and I could never keep up with it.
    And I did not qualify for disability, partially because of my age (38). anyways I am babbling but want you to know you are not alone.

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  3. I have chronic pain in the neck (and no, I'm not talking about my hubby...) and that's the reason I haven't gone to the chiroprator.. I am afraid they will hurt me worse!!

    ps love the blog! new follower here!

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Thanks for your comments!!!