I got a Phone call this afternoon from my mum. She was at work but called me as she was so upset and angry and needed someone to talk to.
We had run out of my medications so my mum went and put the prescription in on Friday as my pain had really spiked and I needed something to try and help. One of the drugs on prescription was Ketamine. As i'm sure some of you already know, it is the only medication that takes my pain down and even then it only takes it to a 6 and a half on the pain scale so I really felt that I needed it as the pain from our Vacation still hasn't settled down that much. I really hate taking it but figured that it is better than being in extra pain.
When my mum put the prescription in, the nurse told her that because it is such a strong drug and what some drug addicts use that she needed to keep the bottle. That was OK other than the fact that there was still a little bit in that could have helped knock the pain down, even if it was just for a little bit.
The nurse told my mum that the prescription wouldn't be available to pick up until today so my mum called the Chemist this morning to see if it was OK for her to go and collect it. The nurse on the phone was pretty nasty to my mum and said that she needed to see all the details from my Pain Management Doctor to make sure that it had been prescribed by him before she could dispense it because of what type of drug it is!!!
That is OK BUT when my mum took the prescription down on Friday, she gave them all of the details from my Pain Management Doctor AND when the Ketamine was prescribed to me, my Doctor wrote to the chemist and told them that it was OK for me to get repeat prescriptions every 9 days should I need to!!!
All of those details are on the flippin' records but yet the nurse made it out like my mum was a drug seeker and didn't believe anything she said!!!
My mum is now going to have to call my PM Doctor to tell him to write to the chemist and tell them that he HAS prescribed the Ketamine and that I need it to try and help with my pain. I really hate taking it but I have been off school since Friday now because the pain is so bad and I just don't feel well at all!
I'm sick of being made to look like I am a drug seeker. I'm sick that my mum has to deal with all of this when she has done nothing wrong and is just trying to help me and I am so sick that they have to make out that everyone that is on Ketamine is just a druggy and that they need help!! That is not the case at all and it is used in many hospitals to treat chronic pain and used for people that are in accidents etc.
Why do Doctors have to make it out that it is just for drug addicts take?!?! I KNOW many drug addicts take it but so do people with RSD and other chronic pain conditions and it's horrible that people have to label us as a drug seeker just because we have to take a strong drug to function without actually looking into the illness!!!!
I really hope that they will be able to get all of this sorted out soon so that hopefully I will be able to get my pain under control somewhat. It has been really high since we got back off holiday and I have hardly done anything other than lay in bed for the past few days!!
Thank you for letting me rant - I just needed to get it off my chest and i'm sure you all understand!!!
Tailing Trout at Little Pine Lagoon this morning.
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Only a light northerly blowing as I fished Tailers Shore.
Trout were tailing but illusive. Two other anglers landed fish, one a good
21/2lb. The rest of us...
11 years ago
4 comments:
UGH, that's so terrible! Yes, people do abuse these things, but when you have a legitimate prescription and records indicating your use - which sounds quite minimal - then they should lay the hell off!
I have been mostly lucky to not have had this experience... except once, when I spoke to a pharmacist (what you call chemist, I think) about alternate drugs which might be covered by my medical plan as the ones I was taking were not.
He asked me about the OxyContin (oxycodone in time release) I have been taking... and if I got 'high' from it. He also questioned my diagnosis - if I had one - and said (when I said Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) that 'lots of his patients have pain...' the implication seemed to be that 'everyone has pain and just wants drugs to treat it'.
I was INCREDIBLY offended and told him NO, I do NOT get HIGH from this, that it JUST helps bring the pain down a bit! Clearly he knew nothing of CRPS/RSD or didn't care and I was in no mood to educate him...
Grr, just thinking about this and the way you and your mom have been treated makes me furious!
Not everyone is a drug addict, for pete's sake!!!
Sorry this has happened to you. Keep strong and I hope your pain settles very soon.
Hugs,
L
Ali I hope your pain specialist was able to inform this noncompassionate person that you did have a VERY valid reason for taking the minimal amount of Ketamine that you do. Heck this is when you feel so red you want to make them suffer a day the way you do and then see how they would like to be denied some pain relief.
Honey I hope that the bed rest is helping you recover. I know you will be fretting about missing school but if you are in that much pain you are best off at home till it settles down a bit. Sending extra hugs to you and your Mum as I guess she could probably do with some herself. It must tear her heart that she isn't able to help take away your pain. Stay strong kiddo, it will burn out a bit soon I really hope.
Its actually rather pathetic what has happened. Now you say it was a nurse at the chemist? What if your Mum talked to the pharmacist? they are the person in charge of dispensing not a nurse and maybe they would be more sympathetic to your needs? I dont know its just a thought.
Take care Alison and I really hope your pain comes down soon so you are able to get back into your routine.
xoxo
Thank you both for your kind and thoughtful words and for letting me get everything off my chest! I really appreciate it!!
The Chemist called my mum yesterday and said that they were going to rush the Ketamine through for me as soon as possible. Apparently the doctor there had spoken to the nurse and told her that it wasn't acceptable to speak to patients like she did and that she had to stop it and that it clearly states on my records that I have a genuine illness that has been diagnosed by several different doctors!!! The nurse kept going on to my mum and telling her how the meds could kill me if I took the whole bottom - I think that scared my mum but i'm not that stupid to go and commit suicide. I have thought about it before but that was when I was very depressed and at the beginning of my RSD diagnosis and my Psychologist helped me work through it.
Hopefully, the meds should be in the chemist for today so that I will have them for school tomorrow. I hate taking them but I haven't been feeling well at all lately - I didn't get to sleep until 4am yesterday and was awake again at 6am!!! The nurse from the hospital called my mum and said that she could write a prescription for the ketamine if I needed it really desperately but it is an hours journey each way to the hospital and my mum was working. She said that she would go for them but I told her it was OK - for some reason I always seem to say that and end up regretting it a lot later!!!!
I hope you are both doing OK and thanks again for everything! I really appreciate it and don't know what I would do without all of you!
I'll keep you updated!
I'm glad it got sorted out in the end, but what a horrible amount of extra stress to be put through by an ignorant nurse! If you can be bothered, I would write a letter explaining not only her treatment of you and your mother but your condition itself and why you require something that is abused on the street (so frustrating that that effects our treatment!)...even educating one nurse is probably worth the effort...I am so tired of RSDers being treated like drug addicts just for being misunderstood!
Hope you are doing better xoxo
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