I was hopeful yesterday when I got the call to go to a new clinic that practices both "Eastern" and Traditional medicine. Actually, they really lean towards "Eastern Medicine" or what they would call Alternative Medicine.
I thought this would give me some type of treatment close to what I received in Germany, since at this point we are very confused as to how my back incisions were able to get to much better in Germany and now the scar/incision on my spinal area is getting worse. I had an ultrasound that showed possible findings of something metal or plastic in the incision. Then that was followed up by a CT Scan, and that found nothing. Yes, it is very confusing.
Needless to say, I arrive for my appointment, provide them with the typical insurance card and ID. Then I start the necessary paperwork that I have been asked to complete. I write down several times that I have CRPS and I even write down the specific areas that it was diagnosed in. When I was half way done with all the paperwork I was roomed and met the Nurse Practitioner (NP).
As I have one person giving me injections into my left foot / ankle scars that hurts to the point that I have tears rolling, I'm ouching, I can't stop shaking due to pain and my foot looks like a mine field because it is bleeding from every place it has been injected. During this time the NP is telling me that I just need to breath and the Doctor that was doing the injections told her the breathing may help them, but he guarantees it won't help me! It was very obvious by what the NP said and did that she had no idea what she was dealing with.
Then it was her turn to inject my back! She started off on the wrong foot by pressing sternly against an extremely sensitive area. Not only did I have to tell her to stop, but the Doctor in the room had to tell her that she was causing me more pain. He had to stop her multiple times to show her how to even swab down my bad prior to starting the injections... Keep in mind even the lightest touch causes the greatest pain. Then when it came to her completing the injections on my spinal area where the scar/incision was - the NP wasn't used to having a patient in pain while she was completing the injections. I'm sorry, but when you have pain that is due to CRPS on a pain scale it is closer to a 15/10 when these injections are being completed. She was getting squeamish and kept wanting to stop; well she has to finish or why am I there? Plus, she was going superficial and the Doctor told her she needed to go deeper than what she was, but she was afraid of hurting me more.
When they finally finished with all of the injections; my back, foot and ankle felt like they had just gone through a war. I was cold and clammy. They left the room to give me some time to relax and try to get some control over my pain.
When the NP did return and she looked at all of the pain medications that I am on she asked me to take extra pain medications prior to coming in next week to get more injections in my foot and back. What she doesn't understand is that these injections are not going to help me to get through this. We talked briefly and when I went to check out I looked at the "super bill" that they fill out at every doctors' office and she didn't even write down CRPS as a diagnosis. Then they wanted to charge me over $450 to be seen for 15 minutes of torture, and keep in mind that I do have insurance! What am I missing?
I can go back to Germany for about $250 per day for treatment and that includes several hours of treatment time; have a Health care Practitioner that knows about CRPS; have access to Blood Ozone Treatment; Procaine IVs; Ozone IVs; Electro Therapy and more. Now there are plenty of questions to answer and more rocks to flip over.
Please take the time to forward this blog to your friends and others. Take the time to subscribe. I need people that are willing to get involved to keep this information going to teach others what CRPS is. My goal is to Raise $1 Million to help with the research that is desperately needed for CRPS aka RSD and to help work with the FDA to get them to give us Authorization to utilize treatments that are working in other countries such as Germany. Feel free to contact me at:
Traci Patterson
14242 Raintree Rd.
Tustin, CA 92780
or
winthewaragainst.crps@gmail.com
Imagine being an active individual then you have a surgery by a doctor that you trust, but somehow an error is made in the surgery that leaves you with a disease called CRPS. I will never forget that day! Imagine being told that you've been diagnosed with a disease called CRPS (Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome), it has no cure.
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