[cancerhurts]

First, I am NOT a drug "addict", "abuser" or "seeker". I AM a 51 yr old man who was diagnosed with extensive incurable metastatic prostate cancer 2 1/2 yrs ago. I've been on hormone therapy since my diagnosis and I've been completely 'around-the-block' when it comes to pain medication trying everything from aspirin to fentanyl. The best relief I've obtained was with Oxycontin 40 mg 2x/day and Oxycodone (Percoset 10/325) #2 tabs every 6 hours as needed. I used that basic regimen for the first 2 yrs with pretty good pain control. Then, my Oncologist got 'weird' on me and started saying I was using too much pain medication in relation to the status and extent of my disease. He finally "dismissed" me as his patient under the guise that I was abusing pain medication. I then found a new Oncologist and "Pain Specialist" 6 months ago. The Pain Dr. switched me to #1 10 mg Methadone tab. every 8 hours. This therapy worked quite well until about 2 months ago when I started experiencing increased pain. I tried increasing my dose of Methadone slightly, but all that did was make me 'cross-eyed' and feeling very out-of-it and it did not help reduce my steadily increasing chronic pain. Sooo, I took it upon myself to switch back to the Oxycontin/Oxycodone regimen I had previously been using with decent pain relief success. (I had @ 2 weeks worth of Oxy. left over from when I switched to Methadone, & I KNOW I SHOULD HAVE consulted the Pain Dr. about this, but he was physically 3 1/2 hours away from me. Anyway, at my next appointment with this Pain Quack, er, I mean, Dr., he reamed me out a new hoosie saying things like "we had a contract" & that I had come to him "labeled a drug seeker". He indicated that he had been doing me a favor by even treating me at all. After this sad, but true, episode with this Pain Quack I quickly found a new physician, (the third one was the charm, who said the Oxycontin/codone regimen was 100% appropriate in relation to the status of my illness and has promised to provide these meds until the time of my demise. Btw, the cancer is now quickly becoming refractory to the hormone therapy and my P.S.A. has "spiked" at my last monthly treatment. I feel vindicated by these findings as I KNEW something was going on by the increased pain I was feeling, but in short, I'm in deep doo-doo.
Ok, I know this is a super-long post, but I would sincerely appreciate any response to my experience that may help me understand how human beings, who claim to be medical professionals, can be so ignorant and heartless as to deny a person with an incurable & painful chronic illness the most effective and appropriate pain relief modern science can provide until the time the Lord calls my name. As my Dad used to say before he passed on, "This really blows my mind".
Thanks for listening to my sad sob story. I hope you'll let me know what you think about this.
May God Bless you & yours,
Peter

[GuySmiley]

Pain Doctors can be a pain. I have a liver transplant and hep c and consequently am taking large doses of narcotics. I have had the misfortune of finding a "Pain Specialist" who would prefer not to treat me. I have not been accused of drug seeking or abuse. He simply didn't want a patient who is taking large doses of narcotics. Some doctors want to "cherry pick" the pain patients that they treat leaving those of us who use large doses behind because they have to justify those dosages and they don't want to or perhaps they aren't well enough acquainted with medicine to be able to justify it. I don't think they ought to allow them to advertise themselves as "pain" specialists unless they are willing to treat everyone who comes to them. I was sent to a Dr. Friesen who first said he didnt want to take me as a patient because he didnt have a clinic in Wichita. When I offered to go to his clinic in Hutchinson he then said he was trying to limit his practice there. It became obvious that he just didnt want a patient like me but he didn't have the cojones to say so.I am lucky to have a family doctor who really cares about me. He said that he would continue to treat me even if the "specialist" didn't want to.

GuySmiley
Wichita, KS