This is it - I'm at the end of my goddamn fucking rope.

[Systematic Chaos]

This probably isn't going to make a lot of sense and frankly I don't even care. If you don't want to read it, don't fucking read it. But this is how people become so fucking angry at the system that they give up and just cease to fucking care.

I had a doctor's appointment today. A crucial one. A very, VERY crucial one, because due to bowel issues I had to cancel one I had for two weeks ago, and I am now completely out of pain relief for a shoulder and arm which are giving out on me due to a problem I can't get properly diagnosed because I don't fit into MRI machines. You know how we hear about people like Rush Limbaugh being addicted to stuff like OxyContin? I'll never understand it. I'm on Oxycodone and Fentanyl to help manage pain which, if I move too suddenly in just the right way, has more than once nearly caused me to pass out. I'm talking literally here. I see flashes of light in front of my eyes and then shit goes gray and it's all I can do to not hit the deck! I take these things because I have to for the pain but do you know what this stuff does to your insides? For one thing it makes it where if I don't take constant doses of senna (an herbal laxative without any toxic side-effects) I will get hopelessly constipated no matter what I eat. And then I'm stuck drinking a bottle of magnesium citrate or some such garbage and then for two days afterwards I can't stay out of the fucking bathroom. I'll NEVER understand being addicted to the stuff. If I could stop taking it all right now I'd do it in a heartbeat. Other than making it possible for me to sleep just a tiny bit better, or turning those blinding light/hit the deck episodes into a dull disgusting roar, I'm not at all impressed. There's no euphoria or feeling good involved with it. It sucks. Yes, I'm obese, but even without any extra weight I'm wide as hell and tall, too. Not to mention the other medications I'm either low on or completely out of. I had to cancel the appointment two weeks ago because I'm at the mercy of Las Vegas' para-transit system, which is supposed to be what people who have problems getting around on regular buses rely on for important stuff like doctors' appointments. For the more than 6 months I've been at my current address, I have been asking the company to fix the information the drivers get in their passenger manifests because they not only have my address wrong by an entire stoplight, but they neglect to mention that our apartment is in the back of the complex. I've had drivers who have driven around aimlessly for 10 minutes or more looking for a place to pick me up. I've had them go to the wrong apartment complexes and have dispatch call me to find me. I've had everything under the fucking sun happen with these rides and I have requested a minimum of half a dozen times that the information be changed and have told these sons of bitches verbatim how to do it so the fucking drivers wouldn't get lost.

Well today of ALL days, some lazy fuckstick asshole driver who couldn't be bothered to make sure he did his job just wrote us off as a no-show. Called his dispatch and said we weren't there. In the meantime, my wife was standing outside in the rear parking lot for over half an hour and never saw a para-transit bus go by anywhere. Not on our side-street, not anywhere else in the parking lot. I called the company AFTER this goddamn son of a bitch asshole told dispatch we were a no-show and they are now refusing to send out another bus. So, with no way to get to my doctor's office, I am now 7 minutes away from missing this appointment and will likely need to be rescheduled ANOTHER two weeks from now. As for this doctor I have, they have no problem telling me to wait two weeks when circumstances beyond my control cause me to miss an important appointment, even after the doctor himself gave my wife and I a lecture about making sure my pain patch/pill doses are given on time and with clockwork regularity. But will they supply a refill prescription if my wife offers to go down there by herself? For anything? Absolutely not, because that must mean I'm a fucking low-life piece of shit addict like Rush Limbaugh or something! Right? And of course he has me on all these fancy boutique sample medications which he gives me samples for, otherwise they would cost us $50 each for the co-pays. We're living on my wife's $11-and-change/hr. income right now and that's IT. And the insurance that we have takes a $164 chunk out of every bi-weekly paycheck. You do the math.

And all of this doesn't even take into account the fact that I'm also beating my head against a wall trying to get some devices to help with my leg circulation. I'm talking weeks of phone calls, ineptitude and stupid bullshit and no results. Or the fact that I'm gifted with the world's tiniest veins and it takes even a good phlebotomist an average of 2-3 sticks in places as exotic as finger joints and the back of my wrist to find one little teeny place to take some blood with a baby needle. And PICC line nurses telling me that out of what should be between 6 and 8 easy candidates for a PICC line between both arms, all my veins are so deep and so fucking small that they've only been able to use ONE of them to insert three different lines over the last two years, in nearly the same place. So what the fuck do I do if that vein goes out? I already have a left arm that's almost completely non-functional and nobody can tell me why. I don't feel like losing the right one also.

I could go on and on and fucking on if I wanted to, talking about all of this bullshit, and it seems like no matter how hard we try, or how vigilant we are, or how hard we work to try and do what we're supposed to or how hard we try and make things easier or improve them, it's one fucking ridiculous smackdown after another. I just don't get it. I'm ready so fucking help me to just throw up my hands and say fuck everything.

While I've been typing all this out, my wife has been on the phone with para-transit, desperately trying to get these shit eating donkeys to get it right and show up where we actually live instead of where they damn well feel like. I also called my doctor's office and explained what just happened, and was told that I can show up tomorrow at 7:45 am, but no other time. So if I'm not there because people are too fucking dumb to find an address I guess I'm straight fucked. Only this time, I'm going to ask my wife to be in front of the complex and my roommate to be on the side of it, while I sit out in the back so there is absolutely NO goddamn way they can pull a stunt like this again. It almost sounds like the punchline to a variation of that how many ___________ does it take to screw in a light bulb joke as I'm typing it in, but whatever. Whatever it takes, I'll do. I just dare the fuckers to mess this shit up again.

Great world. Who fucking cares if you're in pain, or if you're comfortable or if you have rudimentary equipment to help extend the life of your limbs? There are very few people anywhere on the planet I would wish this sheer amount of bullshit upon. If I didn't have my wife to help me out at times like this there's no way I'd even be here right now. I'm done. I'm out of shit to rant about. I just want to try and lay down for a while and not wake up every 30 minutes feeling like someone is stabbing me in the left bicep. Fucking bullshit. Please feel free to remind me about calories in < calories out or any other snarky thing you care to in the handy space provided below when you click the "Reply" button. And have a nice day.

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. So sorry about your problems. I wish I could

do something besides say this on a discussion board. Its very frustrating.

[Mike 03]

2. Pain is nothing to be ignored. Seeing what my father is going through with trying to get

proper pain management, you can rest assured I do care and did read your post, and others here will too.

I hope things get better for you soon. You have a right to be furious.

Best

P.S.

I've seen how pain can destroy everything worth living for. It's serious.

[Greyhound]

3. You have my sympathy, I wish there was something more I could offer. n/t

[Mike 03]

4. Kick and rec...

And thanks to other DUers who also shared their experiences with me regarding pain treatment. There are people here who are experts on this issue. They are amazing individuals.

[Systematic Chaos]

38. Thank you, Mike 03.

I know you yourself have just come to the end of a very long and difficult road. It made me very happy to see that things were starting to turn around for you at least a little.

I also read the thread you posted here apologizing for the times you've posted just to rant. I think the general response from the community here is just the reason why I sat down this afternoon and just let it all spill. And you know what? It helped me a LOT. I'm still pretty pissed off deep down right now, and in the back of my mind I'm just daring those transit dorks to go and screw me up tomorrow morning! But you know what? Honestly I don't think they will. I think that tomorrow I'll get to see my doc, get the scrips and samples I need, and come home not having to worry for another 30 days.

Between my wonderful wife and you folks here at DU, I'm a much calmer and more restive person than I was two hours ago. Thank you, Mike 03, and thank all of you on DU for helping to talk me down when I really needed it.

:grouphug: :yourock: :grouphug:

[TorchTheWitch]

49. Sometimes a good rant is the best medicine

Glad that spewing it out made you feel better and more hopeful. Hope things work out for you in the morning and you get what you need. Feel free to rant again if you feel you need to.

:hug:

[Delphinus]

5. I feel so badly that this is happening to you.

:hug:

If I was there in Vegas, I'd take you to the doctor myself.

I hope you can get there tomorrow and that life begins to brighten for you and your loved ones.

[Motown_Johnny]

6. I think there are MRI machines that can be used on you....

as I understand it, and this is second hand, there are MRI machines that are not tubes/tunnels that people need to be stuffed into.

I have been told by a coworker/friend who has Leukemia that he has access to a machine which is basically a scanner on a multi-hinged arm that can be moved around him while he lies on a table. (poorly phrased but I think you get my drift)



I didn't read your entire rant but I do wish you the best. Good Luck

[Brazenly Liberal]

7. No snark here

Obesity is actually a very complex issue. While calories in > calories out is part of it, it's not all of it. Not by a long shot.

There's really not much I can do to help you from 1500 miles away, but I wanted to say I'm sorry you are in such pain and I'm sorry you're being jerked around. I don't blame you for being angry. Sounds like some of those transit employees are real assholes.

[Gogi]

8. I can sympathize...

missed my last muscular dystrophy clinic appointment because EMT can't be bothered to give their drivers a printout from Google maps or a book of maps for my county. I suggested this to the driver but he said his boss does'nt care. IF there is a next time I'm going to tell them my appointment is two hours before it actually is. STUPID IDIOTS!

[Systematic Chaos]

20. So then you know the kind of crap I'm going through, firsthand.

:hug:

Isn't it just ridiculous? And it's doubly so when, if all else fails, these morons could take just a moment to, you know, pick up a phone and call us at our homes or on our cell phones?!?!

But NUUUUU! We'll just sit here for 5 minutes picking our noses in the wrong freaking place and then call dispatch instead and say "well duh, gee, boss... looks like they didn't show up... can I drive away now?"

:grr:

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

9. Prescription painkiller abuse is a big problem.

I'm a fire captain and paramedic, pretty good friends with my doctor and I can't get a prescription for schedule 2 drugs called in to a pharmacy if I need them. Hope things improve for you.

David

[democrank]

10. Here`s a hug, SC.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

[sandnsea]

11. Sorry for your troubles

And here I sit with prescriptions for oxycodone, for post-surgery, that I don't need. *sigh*

When my husband was on meds for severe burns, we discovered "euphoria" is the signal that you're on too many meds. You aren't feeling any euphoria because the meds are doing the exact job they're supposed to do. fwiw.

I hope tomorrow is better. :hug:

[JuniperLea]

27. Euphoria is a side effect...

I never thought I'd live to see the day when euphoria was a bad thing... what a world.

[sandnsea]

42. Just saying

our experience is that when you're in severe pain, you aren't going to get much euphoria from meds. As you get better, one signal that you can step down to a lower dosage or weaker med, is euphoria.

Didn't say it was a bad thing. Just letting the guy know why he probably isn't getting any of it.

[noamnety]

12. I'm stunned.

1. How is it possible that a transit company doesn't have a cheap GPS in their vehicle? You can get them at costco.

2. Why wouldn't they call your number if they can't find your place?

If they are a public resource, I'd call your city manager and lodge a complaint about both those issues.
If they are private, I'd file an online complaint through the better business bureau. When you do that online, they'll ask what you feel is a suitable fix, and in there I'd put "send verification of proper address and directions in system."

[Systematic Chaos]

15. I'll try and answer you now that I'm slightly calmer.

1. How is it possible that a transit company doesn't have a cheap GPS in their vehicle? You can get them at costco.

Most, but not all, of the vans do have a GPS installed. I've seen them in use and they're wonderful little things. If I had a car I certainly would want to have one, especially because I just like to travel by nature. But at any rate, whether or not they have a GPS that leads us right into your second question:

2. Why wouldn't they call your number if they can't find your place?

That's what is most annoying about these people! When you call them to schedule rides (1-3 days in advance), they first confirm your home address and phone number every single time. Then, when you give them the address(es) you need rides to, they ask for suite numbers, phone numbers, the whole nine yards. And then all of this is ostensibly placed on the driver manifest so that the driver can use it to find people. But then they turn around and say that it's "optional" whether or not the driver attempts to make a phone call. It's "optional" whether or not they take their lazy ass out of the van and go inside a building to look for you. In short I guess the best way to summarize it is that their policies are a joke - and to be honest, rather typical of Vegas in general.



As for your final comments, I think the lady my wife was on the phone with while I was typing my OP in almost hung up on her because I was sitting here at my chair screaming every obscenity under the sun at the top of my voice while shouting "Thank you so much for ruining my entire day! So what if I run out of medication, I can just die! Right you m-fers???". My poor wife had to give up and go outside onto the front porch. As she went I heard her say "Uh, ma'am, it's not my husband you're talking to right now. It's me, and we have a problem that needs to be fixed so let's do it now and do it right, okay?" And trust me, it takes an awful lot to push me over the edge like that and turn me into a raving lunatic throwing a tantrum like an overgrown kid. But an hour ago there was no stopping me.

[zazen]

13. righteous anger is even more powerful when you're in physical pain

I've had various conditions (cancer, etc.) but the most acute pain I recall was childbirth, and damnit, it seemed that folks just standing around me jabbering were so damned insensitive to the fact that I was IN AGONY and would have thrown myself out a window had it been open (10 pound baby, I'm a size 4).

And, even when my body's comfortable, I can get very frustrated at maddening bureaucracies that exponentially compound each subunit's chaos and inefficiency.

So, combine those?

I'd be as furious as you, I think. I'd be GODDAMNED FURIOUS.

When channeled just right (and that's a tough thing to gauge), staying with your anger can instigate improvement.

But the kind of anger you are JUSTIFIABLY FEELING--it's going to kill you before it kills anyone else. That's so unfair, but it's the truth. No one else will be losing sleep while you're in agony tonight.

Is there no combination of OTC stuff or a compassionate pharmacist who can get you through the night? I'd call the all night units at the hospital, find who is working the 7 AM shift who lives in your area, and offer him/her something if you could ride in with them. Then don't leave the office until they pay for a taxi for you to go home. Believe me, if they think you're going to spend the night in their office, they'll find you a way home.

I'm so, so sorry about what you're going through. It really will pass and you'll be able to do something constructive to improve this system so that it doesn't happen to others. Just get through this without getting your head into desperate places. Pain narrows our reality so much, but I promise you reality is so much bigger than this.

God bless you.

[Systematic Chaos]

16. Thank you for your kind words.

:hug:

I should clarify just to keep things on the up-and-up and to help you and others not worry about me so much:

I won't be totally out of pain stuff as long as they don't screw up again tomorrow morning and I actually do see my doctor. I have my last 100 mcg. pain patch on right now, and I have enough oxycodone to last me through the day. But if they don't get me there tomorrow morning and I were forced to wait another eternity to see the doc I would be screwed. Totally and completely screwed.

So, let's hope tomorrow is a better day for me than today was, and someday I'll be able to look back on that OP and laugh. Maybe. :eyes:

[csziggy]

14. Damn - that sucks! Ask about being referred to an "open" MRI facility

Those are not built like the donut type:




They can still be tight but maybe they can get your shoulder and arm in.

I'm going in Friday morning for an appointment for my right shoulder pain that has had me sleeping propped up in a recliner for the last six months. Fortunately my pain is not as bad as yours and my doctor only makes me come in once a year to renew the prescription (for Vicodin) that I fill about three times a year. I'm hoping the ortho doc will try an injection before he makes me go through an MRI.

I distrust MRI results - none of the three times I had MRIs followed by operations did the MRI show the full amount of damage in my joints. Personally, I think MRIs are a waste of time and money and not worth being stuffed in that godawful machine. And if I have to get an MRI, I will have to go to an open MRI facility since I won't fit in the damned donut any longer.

It's hard to get your weight down when you cannot exercise - Though I have cut my calories way down, now that I cannot walk much, swim, or lift weights like I used to, I have put on the pounds. Getting old sucks.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

17. So sorry for all your problems

Wish I could be there to drive you.

[Fireweed247]

18. Jaysus- that sounds horrible!

The doctor knows you need the meds, why doesn't he just refill the prescriptions? That would save a lot of trouble for both of you,an unbelievable amount of trouble for you. Maybe he should make a freaking house call on his way home. Sheeeeit!

[Systematic Chaos]

26. I think a lot of it has to do with bullshit "nanny state" Nevada laws.

It's true that this state is one huge den of derelicts and junkies, but it doesn't matter how much your doctor trusts you or how honest you try to be. We've already found out the hard way that I must physically present myself to the doctor and get a written scrip for any pain relief. My wife can't even go in my place.

What blows me away the most is that, since I'm using private insurance to reduce my prescription costs, the insurance company itself would automatically know if I were "doctor shopping" or trying in any other fashion to get more than my fair share of pills and patches. And it's not like I have the money to pay for any of this stuff in cash without going through my insurance. But they don't know that and wouldn't care if they did. :shrug:

[EmilyAnne]

32. I think you are right. There are certain medications that the pharmacy can't refill with a call in.

You are so right about an insurance company knowing if you were doctor shopping ala Rush Limballs. Still, I think that people who abuse this stuff aren't using insurance for that exact reason. This is one thing that I wish could be taken care of with new technology that consolidates a patients entire medical record so people like you don't have to suffer because of people like Rush. It may seem a bit Big Brotherish, so maybe I'm wrong. It just seems that it would great if these things were all put under a patient ID number or something so a pharmacist could access your entire prescription history. It would save lives. A pharmacy gave my grandmother the wrong refill. It was something that she was supposed to stop taking because of a new drug that was dangerously incompatible. LUCKILY, my mother read the bottles before sorting them for her into a pill case and figured this out. It could have killed my grandmother.

[Systematic Chaos]

37. Didn't you post about that here some time ago?

If not you, then I remember yet another DUer posting about that very same thing! Thank the gods somebody was paying attention so your poor grandma didn't have to needlessly die!

But in all honesty, I agree with you that medical records should be consolidated for reasons such as this. I certainly value privacy greatly as I'm on the libertarian end of the liberal spectrum. However there is a real distinction between privacy just for privacy's sake, and giving people the resources to make proper informed decisions about others' medical care. If a database existed which could prove that my last oxycodone and fentanyl scrips were filled just over a month ago, it would save me a ton of grief knowing that my doctor could just call in new scrips without jeopardizing his license or violating any rules.

So no, I don't think your observations are wrong at all. :hug:

[Wiley50]

46. It's FEDERAL Law. I'm a long time pain patient (fentanyl and morphine) n/t

[DemBones DemBones]

30. The thing is that you have to get a

written prescription for each bottle of oxycodone, unless you're Rush Limbaugh and get your maid to buy it for you. Same with Fentanyl, because they're Schedule 2 drugs, addictive, can be misused. Of course, if you have chronic pain you don't misuse them, you just use them to cope with the pain, and everybody who wants to get high seems to be able to get them. It's very fucked up.

[Systematic Chaos]

36. I don't believe in smoking anything - but I'm all for some ganja brownies about now.

I watched my mother die of horrible cancer after smoking for close to 60 years. I also spent 10 years working in casinos as a blackjack/roulette/craps dealer and was subjected to horrible conditions at times (thankfully not always). So needless to say, I've never tried smoking pot in my soon to be 40-year life, as of next month.

But if, right now, I could take a handful of marijuana and bake it into some brownies or peanut butter cookies to help ease my pain I'd do it, and I would never again take a pain pill or put on another patch. I would do it because first of all, it's a perfectly natural plant which people have used without toxic side-effects for centuries. I would do it second of all because people have said it works and I believe them. And it would work for me without me having to take a different herb (senna) every day to keep me regular. And lastly, I would do it so that I wouldn't have to feel this rage and shame when the system at some point decides to cripple me and leave me without access to the much more toxic forms of pain relief I'm currently using.

There is a lot which could be learned from what I've gone through today and likely will continue to go through... if only the right people gave a flying fuck.

[nashville_brook]

19. from another chronic pain sufferer -- i get it. i totally get it.

i was holding my breath reading your post hoping you didn't get thrown out of your pain management program for missing the appointment.

hang in there, and best of luck tomorrow.

[emilyg]

21. I am so very, very sorry.

[asjr]

22. I would feel the same as you do. It probably

is worse when you need the help most. I have come to the conclusion that in the medical world no one is there when you need them. Hope it works out for you.

[AllentownJake]

23. People like you are the reason I fought and continue to fight for

President Obama.

I'm sorry your in pain and we are working on changing the system, I just wish we could do it faster.

[Lisa0825]

24. I'm so sorry.

I hope it works out for you tomorrow morning.

((((((HUGS))))))

[yellerpup]

25. So sorry you are hurting

and I understand your frustration and anger. I hope you can sleep and perhaps dream of your loving wife and be comforted. I have nothing to offer but love and hope for a pain-free tomorrow for you. :hug:

[Systematic Chaos]

31. She's right here - well actually she's out in the kitchen, but....

We're going to have some nice yummy buckwheat pancakes and turkey sausage tonight, with real syrup and not that corn syrup fake garbage, and sit and watch some stuff maybe on hulu.

I'm telling ya, most people I think would just kill to have someone as loving and caring as my wife is. I only wish the system would actually work every once in a while so that we could both have a little more time to relax, and have less to constantly worry about.

[yellerpup]

34. I'm definitely for less worry and more time to enjoy the important things

in life. Like hot pancakes with real maple syrup and spending time with the one you love. Enjoy!

[JuniperLea]

28. I'm so sorry you are having such a bad time...

I bucked the medical system for years on behalf of my mother... they won.

If one asshat gives you the calories in/calories out bullshit, I'll hold them down for you.

[EmilyAnne]

29. My father is very over weight and has had horrible problems with his knee and back.

He's had a slipped disc for years, ever since he was riding his bicycle (and he had lost a lot of weight at that time) and was hit by a van. For a long time, there would be days that he couldn't feel his feet or he would stay in bed almost all day, which is NOT like him at all. He's a former officer in the air force and has always been very ordered in the way he lives his life. The pain changed him, made him feel that he has no control over his life. Being at the mercy of a doctor sucks. They will only prescribe 800mg ibuprofen, no OxyContin. I don't think the Ibuprofen makes the pain disappear, but I assume it lessens it a bit.

About two months ago, my mother started the two of them on the South Beach Diet which seems to be a saner version of that Atkins Diet. He has only lost five pounds in the two months, BUT the interesting thing is my mom just told me that his knee pain and back pain are gone and he has started using a recumbent bicycle at a gym. My mom thinks that something about the diet has reduced inflammation that was increasing his pain. I take it with a grain of salt, but I just wanted to mention it to you.

Of course, even if a diet change could help stop inflammation and reduce your pain, its a long process. You are in pain right now and it needs to be addressed immediately! Your story makes me so mad. I am sorry that you are going through this.

When you do get the next ride, if you like the driver, maybe you can get his direct number? In Texas, I think the para-transit system was in the form of vouchers for taxi drivers. If its the same in Vegas, the drivers usually have cell phones and maybe you can get one so you can communicate and plan directly? I had a friend who drove a cab and he did this for a couple of elderly people and one man who sounds a lot like you. He did it because, the first time he answered the dispatch to pick them up, they all had stories like you. He felt bad about them getting treated like crap and waiting around, missing appointments and stuff, so he just gave him his cell and told them to call him when they needed him. Damn, if you were in Austin I would connect you two.

[Subdivisions]

33. I wish I were there...

So I could give you a big hug. :hug:

I'm not a religious man, but I'm praying tonight for you and for your ride to be there on time in the morning.

Please come back and let us know how you're doing.

[Systematic Chaos]

40. I will, fo sho.

Thank you for the kind words and support.

I'll be sure to post here tomorrow, one way or the other.

[DemBones DemBones]

35. I hope you got to your appointment and got

your prescriptions, and can soon get an "open" MRI and a diagnosis. People without chronic pain really don't know how lucky they are, do they?

[Fire1]

39. I totally understand and hope you have a better day tomorrow.

It never fails. There's always a certifiable idiot on the other end and it seems to be getting worse and more frequent. Whether it's the pharmacy, transportation, insurance companies, doctors and the list goes on. The incompetence is staggering!!

[Mnemosyne]

41. I'm sorry.

:hug:

[justgamma]

43. Oh, SC!

I hate that you have to go through this. You don't deserve all that grief. :grouphug:

[lonestarnot]

44. Damn!

I wish I could offer something of solice, but I know it's not going to help. This so sucks! I hope it works out in the morning for you. :hug:

[shireen]

45. i'm so sorry to hear about your situation.

All i can do is add my voice expressing my support and sympathy. I really hope things get better for you soon

You are very fortunate to have a loving wife, someone willing to share this terrible ordeal with you. The only thing worse would be to endure this pain alone. There is no lonelier feeling than that.

:hug:

[xchrom]

47. kick -- because i've had loved ones in your boat. nt

[abirdinthehand]

48. I wish that others could see that what they have...

...painlessness, is worth it's weight in gold. Perhaps they would stop with petty conflicts, etc, and comprehend their quiet richness.

As I like to say, I am Pain's B_tch. It runs my life, I do what it tells me to, because I must obey.

That you are so close to running out is scary. I pray that you will get the ride that you need tomorrow. The scenario that you describe sounds so ridiculous - your time, that of your wife's and you roomate's, is valuable and should not be wasted so frivolously.

A friend suggested that a person should always call their refills in right on the 30 day mark, stashing any leftovers for emergency use. I live in an area that is prone to the occasional natural disaster, so I've taken this to heart.

I am sorry that you and I belong to the same unfortunate "club", and my deepest wishes for whatever painlessness you are able to achieve.

If others could only comprehend the great gift that they possess.

Lily

[eridani]

50. This sucks. Multiply it by hundreds of thousands and you see why we need universal health care

--which is not mere fucking COVERAGE, capeesh? Systematic Chaos is in too much pain right now to be harassing Obama and his congresscritters about this, so everybody in this thread needs to do it for him, starting tomorrow.

[FlyingSquirrel]

51. Pack up and move to Everett, WA?

I know, probably impossible. But we have very good Paratransit here. Sorry to hear about everything, hope it gets better (probably couldn't get much worse).

[orleans]

52. i'm sure everything will go smoothly tomorrow regarding your ride

(i'm trying to be optimistic here, obviously)

i understand, from reading this thread, that the drugs you need are "schedule 2" drugs where you have to see the doc. but since you've been taking them can't a refill be called in?

i'm not personally familiar with them so this might sound naive but would it be possible to take 2 or 3 codeine 5s (or whatever that higher number is) to kick out the pain--or would that still not do the trick. because i know the codeine can be phoned in...at least from what i remember it can be. (just trying to think of another option for you in the interim)

hoping your arm feels better and you can get it taken care of right away.

:hug:

[Ladyhawk]

53. I hear you. Life for me has seemed like one smackdown after another, too.

And I understand wanting to give up.

I'm not going to give you a lecture because I respect you more than that (even though I don't really know you). You know what you've gone through. You know it feels like too much. Platitudes don't help, do they?

Let me say this: I hope you can find your way. Do the things you know to do for yourself.

[Maraya1969]

54. I am really sorry. And I know your pain and the frustration with all the

"we think you're an addict so you have to prove to us your in real pain" BULLSHIT! I've become in chronic pain within the last few years and I had no idea the mental frustrations that went with just plain getting to feeling ok.

One thing about gaining weight and being in chronic pain is exercising increases the pain so you tend to be sedentary because of it and that causes more weight gain and more pain. It is a vicious cycle and it drives me crazy. I used to be such and athlete and was so strong for a woman and now I feel like a blob and I see no answer to it all.

I don't know if 7.5 hydrocodone is a schedule 2 pain med but I can tell you how I found a doctor who just calls them in for me and gives me no God awful hasle or suspicious looks when I say I am in pain. I asked around about a pain doctor. I asked the patients. It was relatively easy because I have a friend who I knew got her medicine easily and she gave me the name of the doctor I now have. Before seeing her I was in constant fear of running out and I even tried to buy them off the internet and thus put myself in jeopardy of being arrested. Instead I just lost money from unscrupulous organizations.

I'm glad you have people helping you and I truly hope tomorrow works out. It sounds like you have your bases covered.

I'm really sorry you are in pain. :hug:

[KamaAina]

55. Your local Center for Independent Living would be extremely interested to hear about this

this kind of problem with paratransit is seemingly universal, with the possible exception of Everett, WA (see above).

http://www.ilru.org/html/publications/directory/nevada.html

Of course, the fact that yours appears to lack even a rudimentary website like ours has isn't exactly confidence-inspiring...