Pain Doctor said....

[Babebahn]

The Pain Doctor said, "I can't read your x-rays because I am not a radiologist and I don't have your surgeons progress report on you, but since you had a facet inject in 08/03 and we were suppose to do the radiofrequency and didn't we can go ahead and request it again...you had a facet injection to the neck in 07/04 and you refused the radiofrequency to the neck citing that it would only be temporary or might not do anything."

So the pain doctor told me to come back in 4 weeks, take my meds and be good.

Interesting huh.

[jayne]

they hate it when you refuse their experiments

[Babebahn]

they sure do...and so does work comp...

[jayne]

tough bull kaka

[monster]

I hate it when a doc tells you they can't read an x ray or an MRI...alot of my problems stem from the fact that the idiot AME won't look at the MRI's and my neuro says they are way worse than what the radiologist says....

Sorry Babe, didn't mean to rant on your thread...hope all goes well for you

[Bummer Knees]

I'm lost here. What is facet inject and what is what is radio frequency?

I have facet artropothy, so I am curious?

[Spring]

Babebahn Wrote:The Pain Doctor said, "I can't read your x-rays because I am not a radiologist and I don't have your surgeons progress report on you, but since you had a facet inject in 08/03 and we were suppose to do the radiofrequency and didn't we can go ahead and request it again...you had a facet injection to the neck in 07/04 and you refused the radiofrequency to the neck citing that it would only be temporary or might not do anything."

So the pain doctor told me to come back in 4 weeks, take my meds and be good.

Interesting huh.

Babe...I am so glad you refused the radiofrequency....I have read alot about it...it was talked about with me...it some really scary stuff... All he had to do was call and get the report faxed to office...this has to be driving you nuts...I am sorry you have to be going through this. Maybe you could go to your surgeons offices and sign a release and get your own copy of the x-ray reports...or go the place you had the x-rays done...I have copies of all my MRI's X-rays...etcs. You do have a right to have a copy of all your medical records. Then you can take them to the pain Dr.

I am just so happy you didn't have the radiofrequency done...what I found in all my reseacrh scared me....then to see the outcomes...was like I don't like you are going to do that to me. Me I hate to tell people because...maybe I am just a big chicken...so what made you not what the treatment...I am interested in hearing what made you say no to it.

[Babebahn]

Thanks all...as you can see I was venting my frustration...a little bit!
I have to return these x-rays back to the surgeon so that the radiologist can read them & write a report.
After reading what the radiofrequency entailed for the neck I said Hell No...they never mentioned it to my lower back..but now they want to do it...(not going to happen)

BUMMER KNEES...here are links...
http://www.precisionradiotherapy.com/PE-FACET.htm
http://www.eorthopod.com/public/patient_...ation.html

[red1030]

Hi all....Babebahn, I am so sorry to hear that you are getting the run around. I know it must be frustrating. I would like to explain a couple of relevant facts here about the medical field and maybe you will have a better picture of what is happening.

First every medical professional attends a program that is outlined for what ever they are going to practice in, such as nursing, therapies, physician services etc. Physicians specialize even more and often unless they go in to family practice have very little knowledge about other avenues of care. They have enough to know what is happening, but not enough to be exact or to tell a client / patient.

Second, every professional takes a test in the state that they plan to practice their field in. From there, after they pass the test, then they are licensed by a state licensing board. For physicians it is a medical board whereas for nursing it is a nursing board. Each of these licenses have a set of standards that must be up held. For instance, nursing can not give a medical diagnosis. Often I have an idea what a diagnosis is for someone, but I can say it. i can't say to someone you have an Intracranial Bleed even if all the symptoms listed are classic for a Bleed. I can assess differences and report to the physician whose license will then allow him to diagnosis based on my assessment, his assessment, and testing that he orders etc. So lets take the pain management doctor. He could most likely tell you that you have an infection in a lung, or that a bone is fractured, but his license does not allow that much laditude. The radiologist on the other hand may not have precriptive authority and there for can't give you anything for pain, but he can read and write his report of findings from the X ray, MRI etc.

To cross any line that is established by our license and standards of practice we risk loosing our license and ability to practice. So in this case, the Pain management doctor is not allowed to give you a radiology report. A neurologist can becasue he or she is trained in radiology to a large extent. Mostly he is going to see what is happeining in your brain or your spinal cord. And most often this applies to a surgeon as well. Most surgeons rely on their own assessment of the films becasue they are the ones that are going to do the cutting. A radiologist can't give you a report on a EMG, but a neurologist can. I hope this is making sense.

However, even though I said what i said about the doctor and their licensure restrictions, this does not mean that what happened to you should have happened. One of the things about being in the Navy is that they have you do all kinds of things and you have all kinds of opportunities to do practice in fields that you may never have practicied in if not for the Navy ordering to a certain job classification for this 6 months and then to something completely new for the next 6 months. I said that to say, that while in the Navy in Philadelphia, I was the department head over 3 out patient clinic's: GYN, Surgery, and Ortho for 4 years. As a result I have a good idea of what should have happened in this situation. For me as the nurse in the clinics and the department head it was my job to make sure that if a patient is being seen and the doctor needs certain reports etc. then it was my job to make it happen. If I needed it faxed then the corpmans would be instructed to obtain the information so we were very prepared when the patient arrive.

What should have happened here if I understand it correctly is that the office who made your appointment did not assess what all needed to be there for your visit with the physician. THat should have happened. I am sorry that that happened but that is where if there is fault to be had it lies.

I thought I would explain that a little bit because I have heard these sort of concerns before and I believe that if we understand the system a little bit more it arms us with power to protect our rights more fullly. I hope this all makes sense. Love you all.... Red

[Babebahn]

thanks Red...I am taking the x-rays to the radiologist this week to be read, then we will see what it says.