New Here - Desperate for Help and I Don't Mean Maybe

[Violet M]

Well, you made me laugh. If you are up for climbing buildings, there must be a dramatic improvement.

Thanks for the report.

Violet

[April]

That's great news, FC!! I'm so happy for you!! Thanks for sharing the news. Are you entirely pain free now?

April

[stephanies]

Hi FinalCountdown,

Great news that your surgery was successful!

Stephanies

[FinalCountdown]

Man, I just reread all these kind replies for the first time in a long, long time, and every single one of them means the world to me.

So I just want to say THANK YOU to all of you. I’ll always be in pain (13 years of being bedridden does not help things), but I’m no longer in the kind of “I don’t care if I die in my sleep pain” that I was in before Dr. Hibner’s surgery.

If anyone has any questions at all, about anything, please DM and I’ll send you my phone number so you can text me. I’ll be gone until early May, but if you need help, I will call you.

This is an extremely important forum, and the people here are wonderful.

Thank you, thank you all.

[Violet M]

Hi FC, thanks for coming back to let us know how you are. Glad to hear you are still doing somewhat better.

Violet

[eraser]

That's unfortunate that they are denying you care. I wonder if it would do any good to write a letter explaining your situation and that your appointment was canceled due to an incorrect assumption that you have a spinal stimulator when you actually don't.

It's OK to vent here and get some of your frustration out. Many of us have had similar experiences so we know where you are coming from, but if you do write a letter make sure it is extremely respectful because it will go much farther that way. I know it's annoying but you have to play the game. And you can't make any threats of suicide because as health care professionals they cannot provide certain drugs to someone who has suicide ideas because that would make them liable. Unfortunately, providers have to guard themselves against malpractice and they have to follow the recommended protocol. So while they may seem uncaring, they are pulled in two directions -- that of wanting to help the patient vs. what their protocol allows.

If you are suicidal please seek professional help from someone trained to help you deal with those thoughts. If you are just venting and need a listening ear, we understand. I hope you will stop and think about the possibility of a good life if you get the right treatments and hang in there to keep fighting for it.

Violet

The other important to make is that people will always confuse suicide with a mental health problem, and this includes health professionals. The false attributation enables patients to be dismissied, a common problem for patients with chronic pain.

[April]

Hi FC,

Yes, so glad you are back and still doing better! Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Best,
April

[eraser]

Hi Violet, and thanks for your (re-)welcome. I had my surgery with Dr. Hibner in Sep, 2022. I’m happy to answer anyone’s questions, as I feel an almost urgent sense of obligation to people suffering from this horrible condition. I also feel like climbing onto the tops of skyscrapers, and throwing lightning bolts down upon the entire medical community, Zeus-style.

If you give me enough time, I’ll also write a more detailed report, but I’ve always been better at answering questions than writing essays.

Bolts of lightning is exactly what they deserve. That phrase did make me laugh! I cannot believe how badly the medical community on the whole manage it. They shouldn’t be allowed to hide and their incompetence should be exposed for what it is.

[tompster]

This is an amazing thread.
I just messaged you hoping for your number because I likely am going to have surgery with Dr. Hibner too.