I’m in love

I’m in love, but Flippy says it’s okay… I’m just in love with my new doctor and Rehabilitation Associates of Nevada.  As I wrote in an earlier entry, in late August I finally decided to see a fibromyalgia specialist, in this case, a physiatrist.  I’d been given the referral to this clinic three years ago, but I declined to go because it was pretty expensive, and because I was feeling frustrated about my inability to find solutions to my health problems.  I’m glad I saved that referral and finally decided to follow up on it, because the appointment was definitely worth the $200 price of admission.

Superficial things first—the office is in a nice building attached to a hospital, and it’s in a nice part of town with great views.  The office was spacious and comfortable, and it was practically empty—they say they pride themselves on always being “on time”, and they seem to mean that.  The office staff were very friendly and laughed a lot, which made me feel at ease—it wasn’t like some offices where the staff are tired and overworked.  I sat in the waiting room for perhaps 10 minutes before I was called in for my appointment, and I was then put into another room, an exam room, with lots of artwork on the walls and comfortable furniture.  The place felt “cozy”, rather than harsh and sterile.  I doubt I waited more than 5 minutes for the doctor to come in, and he entered pushing a tray with a laptop on it—he took his own notes during the appointment (sorry, Georg—he’s going to put the medical transcriptionists out of business).

I’m not exaggerating about this part:  the doctor talked to me for one and a half hours.  Seriously.  He asked me all my medical history and prescription history and about other doctors I’d seen and about my various aches and pains, all while he sat and typed out notes.  When I tentatively mentioned that Oxycontin had worked for me, he nodded, and his only “opposition” to Oxycontin was to ask if I’d tried less expensive narcotics like Perocet and Lortab.  I told him they worked, but weren’t as convenient (because the pain ebbs and flows more), and he agreed that Oxycontin seemed perfect for me, as long as I didn’t mind the cost.  He asked about side-effects, and I told him Oxycontin made me a bit nauseous, so he prescribed hydroxyzine to combat the nausea.  Then he gave me a new Ativan prescription, as well.  With narcotics, I’m theoretically supposed to go into the office to get a new prescription every month (they don’t charge for it, but I have to go pick it up), but the doctor said he’d write my scrip for twice the dose I’d probably end up taking, so it would last me two months.

What I loved most of all was that the doctor trusted me, and spoke to me like I had a brain and was a responsible adult.  I don’t like narcotics, frankly—the side-effects bother me, and I don’t like the social stigma of taking them—but I really appreciated that this doctor knew they were a reasonable option for my condition, and didn’t treat me like I was going to abuse them.  In two months I have another appointment to reassess the situation (it will cost $75), but I feel like there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, here.  I may not find a “cure”, but I think I’ll be able to find a way to function somewhat normally again.

I wasn’t given any diet or exercise instructions, although I was offered a prescription for a special fibromyalgia pool exercise program (the program nearest our house is full, so I had to decline for now).  I thought I’d be told to start walking or exercising or something, but for now, the doctor would prefer I do nothing out of the ordinary which might make me feel worse.  If and when I have insurance, he said he can send me to physical therapy.  If and when Flippy and I start earning more money, I’ll be willing to pay for PT out-of-pocket, if need be.

Anyway, I feel pretty good today, mentally.  Physically, I’m just wiped out—the past week of night school (four hours each night), plus homework, plus other work, plus the doctor has left me in a state of collapse.  I woke up full of energy, but fell back into bed two hours later and have spent the day napping.  I started my Oxycontin last night (it helps me sleep free of pain, and this way I can sleep through any nausea), but the pharmacy won’t have the hydroxyzine in stock until Monday.

Oh, one quirky thing about the rehab office—they not only have a drug contract, they seem to enforce it.  There’s a note on the front desk saying that when you arrive for an appointment, you’ll be asked to roll two dice.  If they come up with a total of four or eight showing, you have to immediately go downstairs to the lab for a “random drug test”.  I know they have to protect themselves against drug abusers and drug seekers, but I’m going to be pretty annoyed at the lab fees, if and when I get hit with the test.

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My current daily medication regimen:


40 mg Cymbalta (for sanity)
5 mcg Cytomel (for thyroid)
75 mcg Synthroid (for thyroid)
10 mg Oxycontin (for pain)
.5 mg Ativan (for sleep)
20 mg Prilosec (oxycodone gives me nasty GERD)
Posted by on 09/30 at 07:53 PM

  1. Spending 1.5 hours with you would make 1 dictation probably 45 minutes long to cover everything that would need to be covered. That’s half my shift. It’s probably easier and more financially viable to keep records himself, because he’d have to spend half a day talking after a day of seeing patients.

    I’m glad that he’s someone you can work with.

    Posted by Georg  on  10/01  at  03:02 AM

  2. In fairness, part of the reason my appointment was so lengthy was because he took extra time typing.  If he’d used a transcriptionist, I might have only needed an hour of his time.  I guess they’ve done a cost/benefit analysis of this setup and it works for them, but they’re probably lucky they’ve got doctors who don’t mind typing!

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  10/01  at  08:53 PM

  3. I everything works out for you but take it easy with the oxy sweetie.

    Posted by Michaela  on  03/04  at  09:11 PM

  4. While I appreciate your participation, Michaela, I can’t imagine that seeing I was taking 10mg of oxycontin should elicit a comment of, “take it easy on the oxy, sweetie”.  “Sweetie” is a bit condescending, for one thing, and 10mg is the lowest dose a person can be one.  I’ve taken oxycontin off and on for years, at higher doses, and it’s perfectly safe when used properly.  Anyone who’s died from it has used it improperly, and that’s a fact.

    That said, this entry is one and a half years old, and if you’d caught up in the blog you would see that I’ve tried many other meds since this post, and have now been on methadone for months.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  03/18  at  05:57 PM

  5. It’s probably easier and more financially viable to keep records himself, because he’d have to spend half a day talking after a day of seeing patients.

    Posted by Anon  on  03/19  at  11:36 AM

  6. Dear spammer… I edited your post before I allowed it to show up, because all comments here are on moderation.  Sorry to mess up your hard work, although YOU MISSPELLED THE URL OF YOUR WEBSITE, you doofus.  What a crappy spammer you are!

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  03/19  at  05:59 PM
    7. Page 1 of 1 pages

I've been forced to put comments on moderation because of recent spamming, and I've also removed the spot where you can leave the url of your blog. I'm sorry... if you have a blog that you'd like me to add to my blogroll, please email it to me! And spammers, urls left in comments are not converted to links. If by some rare chance you leave a comment which is actually on topic, I'll just remove your url before I approve your comment anyway. Long story short, it's a waste of time to spam here. No one but me will ever see it, and I'll block your IP at the server level.

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