Mary: "Dr. Grumpy's office. This is Mary."
Miss Meyer: "Hi! I'm having terrible back pain and need to get into Dr. Grumpy right away! It's an emergency. I can't even sit for more than a few minutes!"
Mary: "Well, you're in luck. Our 3:00 patient just canceled, so he can see you this afternoon."
Miss Meyer: "Oh, I can't do that. I have tickets for the premier of 'Breaking Dawn.' "
So the real issue is she wants to be fixed so she can sit through the movie which is clearly more than a few minutes long.
ReplyDeleteWow. How strange for a patient to call with pain on a Friday and need it right away.
ReplyDeleteNow that's priorities.
ReplyDeleteI would need serious amounts of pain pills just to see Breaking Dawn
ReplyDeletelol clearly didn't think that through before making the call
ReplyDeleteI'm having fun reading the reviews of Breaking Dawn - evidently it is something to behold!
ReplyDeleteA Bun in the Coven was one title.
Another review talked about the sex scene and said "Sweet, sweet vampire love".
"And I need the back pain to distract me from the even worse pain of watching the movie."
ReplyDelete"And you have no idea how hard it was to find a sitter for my cats."
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good one to let get away!
ReplyDeleteDidn't Miss Meyer read the book? She knows how the movie ends!
ReplyDeleteDo you normally see back pain patients?
ReplyDeleteWhy?
Ok, we all need the money but do you really think that back pain patients benefit from a neurology opinion? Or do you have a pain clinic on the side?
Serious question BTW.
I don't know a neurologist who doesn't see back pain. It's a pretty common reason for referral.
ReplyDeleteThat's why she needed to be seen right then! It'd be terrible inconsiderate for her to stand the whole time she watched "Breaking Dawn." She was just trying to be considerate to the other movie goers.
ReplyDeleteI mean... obviously...
So, the fact that the woman was going to see a movie (whatever movie) somehow negated the fact that she had back pain? As a sufferer of chronic pain, I can tell you that I can't even begin to tally the number of doctors I have tried to get an appointment with for pain-related issues, and have been told that I would be granted an audience in 6-9 months. Perhaps this woman was simply hoping for something a little better than that. Most patients in pain don't actually get immediate results, like she did in this instance. My sincere congratulations to the office staff for such speedy response to her needs, and luck in having an open appointment. And might I add, shame on you for making fun of the pain that you obviously do NOT understand. I hope you will never have to understand such pain.
ReplyDeleteTo the moderator - since my comments are not mocking the caller/patient in pain, as all of the other comments are, undoubtedly you will not be inclined to post them. Wouldn't it be nice if you actually did?
The real pathology is in the desire to see that movie..
ReplyDelete@Darrin: The point is that the caller said it's an emergency, then wouldn't take the offered appointment. The caller said that she was unable to sit for more than a few minutes, then said she planned to go sit in a theater for the showing of a movie.
ReplyDeleteLook at it this way: if someone stumbled out of the desert, gasping, and said they just had to have some water because they hadn't had a drink in two days, you'd expect them to take the water you offered them, not get all snooty because it isn't isn't served in the right shaped goblet.
This has nothing to do with back pain. It's about the inconsistency, the bad priorities, the craziness of it all.
I am guessing that she didn't expect to get an appointment right away. Then the response from her would be ... could you phone/fax in to my pharmacy a prescription for "Narcotic Pain Control A" so I can pick it up... and can Dr. Grumpy phone it in right away 'cause I'm in a lot of pain. Who knows if she was in pain. Could have just been drug seeking. Or am I the only one who thinks that way?
ReplyDeleteWow Darrin, just wow. Go read PAN (passive aggressive notes.com) and take chill pill. Sounds like you got a few laying around.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes I am mocking you.
"I don't know a neurologist who doesn't see back pain. It's a pretty common reason for referral."
ReplyDeleteThis is common in the USA, I presume. Actual diagnosable neurological disease is extremely rare as a cause of back pain, as I'm sure you know. Since just about everyone with back pain gets an MRI scan these days, the vast, vast majority show normal age related degenerative changes that can't be fixed, only managed.
Now, I don't want to do you down, but you don't need a neurologist to tell you that. I should add that I am a pain clinic doc in England, and that I enjoy reading your blog.
Yeah, what Warm Socks said!
ReplyDeleteThe response is definitely contradictory to what the patient stated the issue was! Why would you go to a movie if you are in that kind of pain? It doesn't make sense therefore, discredits the potential patient. So there.
@Darrin... "I have tried to get an appointment with for pain-related issues, and have been told that I would be granted an audience in 6-9 months. Perhaps this woman was simply hoping for something a little better than that. "
ReplyDeleteSeriously, what better than an appointment on the same day could she have hoped for? Priority, this women's pain had none.
@YOAV... unresolvable back pain is still a valid reason to see a neurologist, even if only to rule out a malign (or benign but compressing) growth in the area of brain and spine. Many pts will probably rather go to an orthopedic specialist, but many will probably demand being referred when they don't like the previous doc's suggestion to maybe combine physio and regular light exercise with a NSAID pain management. In Germany, many people who claim to have XYZ problems (often back-related) also just want to get an early retirement. It's not like Dr. Grumpy is going around fishing for back patients, these people are often being referred by other physicians after all...
While neurologic (as in coming from the brain) reasons might not be the most common ones for back pain, I can understand why they need to be ruled out as much as all other possible reasons.
Btw. I'm not a neurologist, so I could just as well be wrong. But I worked with lots of pain patients (evaluation for rehabilitation and health sport classes), some of whom were less enthusiastic to actually be responsible for their progress than others. (Sorry for being a bit jaded, haha.)