The Forgotten Ones

Pain management. 

Ortho dr for my shoulder was handling it, but I can’t see him until I am ready to have rotator cuff surgery. Spine dr refused. She said she only does prescriptions right after she does surgery. I guess if you are still in pain beyond x weeks post surgery you are SOL. She messaged my pain dr and asked if he would do it. He would, but I would have to see him every month and have drug tests. He doesn’t take my insurance, so all of that would be out of pocket. I can barely handle seeing him every 3-4 months. He did prepare a letter to fax to my PCP, but I haven’t heard from them. 

Unless a miracle happens, I will need to see my PCP this week asap. My shoulder pain is out of control. I mean...I cannot move without feeling pain. Can’t even scratch my ear because the pain is horrible. There is nothing I did that could have aggravated this. I literally don’t do anything. I won’t even pick up a gallon of milk because that sets off my back pain.

What am I supposed to do? I’m babying the arm, icing, and I MacGyver’d a sling with a large scarf. I have a real sling, but it doesn’t feel right, seems like it might be a kid’s sling. The last time I was experiencing shoulder pain I Googled “how to delay rotator cuff surgery”. One of the top things is to immobilize it with a sling, ice as needed. Last time it really helped (of course I also had pain meds then). 

A lot of articles have been popping up in my Google feed about the forgotten ones in the Opioid Crisis. I’m one of them. All the articles were about people legitimately with chronic pain who got their pain meds cut off. Like me, these people were taking them as prescribed. Quite a few of them had the issues I have in my back. What are we all supposed to do? How are we supposed to bear all this pain? 

Because my shoulder pain is so intense, it’s affecting how I sit, stand, walk, even lie in bed. This shoulder pain has already affected my gait and has made me more off balance (ok, cut with the jokes). It’s also going to affect my back pain because I am moving differently to try to lessen the shoulder pain.

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