need pain control -

[kathyd]

Hi everyone
Does anyone have opinions on what hospitals or centers one would provide the best pain mgmt care on the East coast of the US?
I am not happy with the pain mgmt (the lack thereof ) I have had here in the NY area. Everywhere I turn, they just have no answers, that are going to get me out of pain in the near future. I live at level 9/10 every day. Emails to docs or calls take forever to get answered, and the issue Ihave , (see below)they just ignore.

If someone with a mainstream disease like cancer or heart disease were suffering this much, they would not be left to suffer in their own home like this! It would be "stat"
care!
I have to wait over a month for the next "step" in my pain care quest.
Meanwhile I am on a drug (methadone) this is ruining my digestive system on top of the inredible pain (which the drug does not help with) it is now causing stool backup (or the feeling of stool pushing tho there nothing comes out) right after I've spent a day emtpying my guts out from laxatives... How could I have the stool there? So it must be the nerve iriritated further by the constipation-diarrhea cycle.
My family is so used to seeing my cry that even they ignore it and tell me to "relax". I just can't take this anymore.
Does anyone know of a good center we can go to get immediate pain care? (the local ER will be useless) the only person who responds is my therapistwho great but shes not a doc so she does not know how to help me~
I need a doc./center who understands the urgency.. I am a normal wife and mother, in increbible mind-blowing pain!
Pls help!
Thx friends.

[Meliora]

I feel for you. I am in your boat, I have seen a ton of doctors and no one is in a hurry to help. I have other health problems in addition to PN. Trying to get help has been awful and painfully slow.

I found an article about a PN treatment from some NY pain doctors. Maybe one of them could help you get treatment sooner. You should not have to live in such misery. There are too many PM doctors to help for you to have to hurt like this.

Here is the link, I do not know these doctors, but it would seem they know about
PN from the article. Looks like Dr. Gharibo is in NY for sure.
http://aapm.confex.com/aapm/2008am/tech ... /P2847.HTM

[rea]

I hope you get help soon. My heart goes out to you. The pain medicine helps me but the gabapentin has been the thing that gets me through each day.

[shana]

I've been treating with Dr. Kenneth Chapman at Spine and Pain Institute in Manhattan and Staten Island. So far I'm very happy with him. I know Dr. Coway only likes him in the New York area.
Good luck!
Shana

[Faith]

Shana, I'm sorry this is not the right post to be asking this, but I am not on HOPE much anymore and I just noticed in your signature that in 2011 you had labral tear repair, but in 2013 MRI showed bilateral labral hip tears? So your labrum re-tore? Any ideas why?

[kathyd]

Hi and thanks so much to those who responded..
I'll check out the names you provided and keep them for possible use. Thx. I have a doc I am using for a pain pump trial but want to make sure I find a back-up as the process has taken much longer than expected.. ( 2 mos and still waiting)

Shana what is Dr Chapman treating you for symptom wise?
Dr Chapman did treat me with a couple of blocks. When they didn't help,he became quite negative, and made some rude comments about my medical condition. I had no clue where that was coming from, but that is why I began looking elsewhere.
Every patient's experience is different so stick with what works for you!

I actually just switched to his former partner Dr Diwan who has a NJ location, and am seeing how things go. He seems to want to help ,but sees me as "complicated". I guess cause I have anal pain and bladder/ IC issues.. The bladder sometimes has hesitancy and it is hard to tell whether meds are causing it or other factors or just part of the nerves being over irritated and CNS getting pain signals for so long..
Thanks folks and
If anyone likes their NY Eastern area doc and feels he/she is PN knowledable, pls post about them!

[shana]

Kathy
I only went to dr chapman bec dr Conway says he's the only person he trusts on the NY area to do the blocks. But u r right. The first appointment he was super nice. The 2nd block I decided not to use anesthesia and he gave me attitude which I thought was really strange. I mostly deal with his PA who is really really nice. I actually deal with two of them and they've both been very nice. Since I only got minimal relief and I got worse after each block dr chapman doesn't want to do another block befor I speak to dr Coleman. Honestly I'm fine with that but ur rite his attitude went frm very nice to not so nice. His PA on the otherhand, like I said, very happy with

Who's this dr diwan? Does he do blocks as well? Would live more info on him

Thanks
Shana

[shana]

Faith,
I wish I knew the answer to your questions I'm wondering the same myself. I saw Dr. Coleman today he says its very possible that the repaired labrum looks to b torn even though it was repaired and its really fine or its scar tissue that looks like a torn labrum he doesn't know for sure. He's sending me for a CT scan of both hips its scheduled for Fri so will see what it shows. The main confusion is that my right hip which is the hip that had surgery causes me a lot of pain and makes me limp and is just driving me crazy my left hip hurts but not nearly as much yet on physical exam my right hip is stronger than the left and not as painful as the left hip so Dr. Coleman is not sure why I'm in so much pain.

I finally gave in to my pride and asked him for a handicap placard. I'm 28 and I feel way to young to be needing such a thing especially since my grandma tells me she doesn't need one (she honestly doesn't she walks better than me) but my husband is right I may as well take advantage of this easy thing that can be a big help

Shana

[kathyd]

Oh Shana,
Im so sorry you're dealing with this stuff! This too will pass ... there are so many good years ahead.
I had a labrum tear repair with Coleman too as the tear showed up on a 2009 MRI and my doc Dr Coady was doing a study on hip tears and vulvar pelvic pain. I went along with it even tho I had bladder IC issues and no hip pain...Even Coleman looked a bit skeptical but Dr Coady had a few of her patients get well by doing this.. so we did it.
Coleman said there was significant damage to the labrum and that I really needed that surgery, but I didn't t feel any different after and months later my mild sit pain gradually became a big issue...For me I think it was unnecessary surgery but IDK?
About Chapman what you described is JUST what happened to me..Nice enough when I first met him. But later he became kinda mean and said "this probably won't work for you" regarding a procedure. HUH? I told my doc and she said that other patients had had a similar experience with him.
Then he made an extremely rude comment a few months ago and I swtiched to Diwan.. BTW I liked his PAs also ..very nice women. Easy to talk to and sympathetic.
About Diwan he has offices in Manhattand and NJ.
I will let you know how I feel ..We'll see how responsive he is. I have been trying to impress upon him that I need to switch off the pain med Ive been on due to lack of pain control and horrific constipation thats angering the nerve to the point where I feel constipated a day after I emtpy out, making me soo sick.
He says he wants very much to help me. ..I hope so!
What I value in a doc is sense of urgency... if one thing doesn't work, stick with them until something helps .. even a little. They need to understand how much suffering these disorders cause and respond in a timely manner.I hope he is good. He is kinder than Chapman for sure. I will keep you posted and I hope you start feeling better soon!

[shana]

Thanks Katy,
I definitely need the first hip surgery, I was having pain causing all sorts of problems, I'm just not sure why I'm still in pain. I'm hoping the CT scan on Fri will answer that question.

About Dr Diwan, what's his first name? I googled the name but I'm not sure I have the right person. I'm in NJ so it would be much easier (and cheaper!!) to go to a doc in NJ then to drive into Manhattan. Yesterday when I drove into the City it took me 2 hrs 40 min to get to the City bec a truck stalled in one tunnel and a car stalled in the other. It normally takes me an hr 15 min, It was a nightmare! Of course I was late for my apt but Dr. Coleman was very nice and they didn't give e any problems. So if you can let me know Dr Diwan's info maybe I'll give him a call
Thanks
Shana