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I'm So Proud of Myself. Adventures in Pain Management Part 2

I posted a few days ago about how unhappy I was with my husband's Pain Management clinic.
Here's an update.

Today we went to see the spine doctor for hubby's second neck injection. I asked if I could speak to the doctor because I had some questions and he was happy to see me after the procedure.

I ask him what the course of treatment was, how many injections we could expect to have and what would happen if they didn't work. He said that was a very good question and started to outline what he had planned.

I told him we were having problems with our pain management clinic and how they wanted us to only get the injections from them. He told me that they weren't qualified to give the type of injections that he does (which I knew from researching the credentials of both clinics).

He pulled up hubby's chart, saw the medications the pain clinic giving him and said he felt comfortable taking over his pain management!!!

Not only is his office in town, but he's a really nice guy, his staff is wonderful and we were seen within 15 minutes of our appointment time!!

Yes, I did a happy dance in the hallway and no, I didn't hug him even though I really wanted to.

I can't wait til next week when we officially fire the other clinic. I'm gonna miss the office ladies, the nurses and our awesomely crunchy yoga lady, but not having to go all the way out there every month to be treated like a junkie or a criminal instead of a patient is priceless.

I'm still gonna be hyper vigilant about hubby's meds and procedures, but it's a major load off knowing that every appointment won't be a battle.

Sorry, I Had to Vent About How Crappy Pain "Management" Is

I've been trying to read up on the new CARA drug law and I have yet to see any of the penalties, laws or guidelines my husband's pain clinic is always on about.

So today we go, and the cow of a PA who "manages" his case tells us that since their clinic also does neck injections, we need to either get the injections done there, or let the spine doctor do his pain management.

I re-read our pain contract, and it says we're not allowed to get pain meds from other doctors. Fair enough. But if that's the interpretation of the agreement they're using to justify getting his injections at their office, then why aren't they also prescribing the Naproxen he gets from his orthopedist or the Lyrica he gets from his neurologist?

Then there's the little matter of the doctor who runs the pain clinic not being a specialist in anything spine related whatsoever!!!

If they think I'm gonna let some yahoo stick a large needle in hubby's neck who's not a spine specialist they need to quit taking the the meds they won't supply.

They're talking about sending us to an office in another town which is cool because that would be closer to our house. I also wouldn't have to look at the cow of a PA we have, but I would have a whole new staff to put the fear of Leslie into and that's just tiring.