i am 58 disabled in great pain can someone please help

[phillypete54]

hi im pete and have problems. i am disabled,in great pain and my doctor decided one day to cut patients and eventually retire.giving no consideration to me what to do please help

[kebsa]

pete, i feel for you- i too have multiple disabilities that lead to severe chronic pain and i understand how important your relationship with treating doctor is but you have to remember that he is a human being too- the demands on our experienced doctors are terrific! they are entitled to retire and rest like the general community but more important, they too get health problemsas all of us do- i know my GP of many yrs had to cut back his patients and consulting times and that upset many of his patients but he had actually had a cerebral bleed! given that it was amazing that he continued to work even with the reduced patient list but he did that because he was thinking of his patients but ultimately he would have worked himself to an early grave had he not retired.

now, i live in australia and we can change our doctors at our coice we do not have to remain register with particular practices- i changed to another gp in the same cllinic and even though i moved away from the area i travel back to see my current gp- i don't think you have that kind of choice(i could be wrong) but there must be another option in terms of GP's - it will take time but you will build a trust with a new doctor but please try to remember that you doctor is a human too with real needs and has the right to think of his own health and happiness and that of his family first

[moggiemay in reply to kebsa]

Hi Kebsa, I bet you made Petes day by your reply. The poor man is ill and am sure he feels lost and uncared for. He cannot take on board the life and times of any GP.The Gps choose to work in the Profession, and are very well paid ,and in the UK they dont now work at night or at he week ends or ever do on call, If they choose to do that , they are very well paid, I know personaly that Doctors are flown in from for eg.Germany at the week ends to cover the out of hours service and back again. Yes Drs are human, like us all, but we who are ill and in pain seek their help, and we are not in a position to take on their cares and woes

In the UK we also can change our GP if we like, or are not happy with our care, You say that you are unwell, so am I, so perhaps you can show a little more compassion for the sick. Hope you enjoy the sunshine in OZ Regards Moggiemay xx to sweeten you up.

[kebsa in reply to moggiemay]

Pete, please rest assured the following is not addressed to you, i really do hope that you have been able to find anew GP who can help you

MoggieMay the rest is for you- i have severe multiple sclerosis, i am an amputee, i have complex regional pain syndrome, osteoporosis, i not along fell from my wheelchair and was stuck on the floor all night as i had fractured 2 vertebra in my lower spine- my pain is only partially controlled by a pump that delivers medication directly to the spinal fluid- so yes i do understand what its like to be in pain but before my life on a disability pension i was an RN and yes it is true that people in the health profession chose to do so usually when fit and young- it does not mean they have to continue to work past retirementment age or when they are sick just because we the patient have become dependent on them.

Being in pain and being distressed does not mean you have the right to completely ignore the rights of another individual even if that individual is a GP- no matter how much pain Pete is in the simple truth is that his GP has effectively given notice cutting patient numbers with the aim to eventually retiring -THAT IS HIS RIGHT at least he did not just retire!, GP's are human too and as such they get sick too or would you rather the GP keeps on working for the patients convenience til the GP drops dead mid consultation!

you say they have to fly gp's in from Germany to cover out of hours service and it sounds like you feel like thats proof Gp's have an easy life- to me its quite the opposite, the NHS would not spend that kind of money if they could get the staff locally -so it sounds like there is a shortage and thats certainly not good but even so, believe me, if a GP feels they have reached the point they should retire you don't want to force then to continue-being close to retirement means they may have health issues themselves. god forbid if a mistake was made i bet you'd be the first screaming foul play- as for the sweeten up jibe, i am not the sour puss here so you can have the XX back you need them more!

[moggiemay in reply to kebsa]

Good day to you Kebsa

Thank you for your reply.

The first two lines of your post were for Pete and that is all you should have said to him in the first place, End of story. You berated him,He only wrote two lines and was concerned about himself.

You Kebsa are very unwell And I understand all of your ill health problems and it must make your life very hard,I think that you must live alone. I am sorry about you falling out of your chair and causing further injury,Is there not an emergency alarm system in place for you?You wear a bracelet or an alarm round your neck and can summon help. We have this system in place in Scotland

I do not intend to argue with you about GPS retiring. Every one retires at some point

Several years ago The Labour Government gave the GPs a 6% rise and told them they did not have to work in the evening or weekends or do on call work. And NHS 24 was set up for the whole country

We are short of Doctors and 2000 nurses and midwives have lost their jobs in the last 2yrs. It is all down to money !!!

You do me a great injustice saying i would shout foul play if any thing went wrong

My late Husband and Son of 32yrs got very good care from the medical profession, I could not fault them if I tried

You have called me a sour puss but infact there is more vitriol comming from your letter to me,The x was sent as a jesture of good will

I hope you can get descent pain releif and I really am sorry that you have so many health issues. I still hope the sun shines on you

Regards Moggiemay.

[kebsa in reply to moggiemay]

vitriol is not the right word,but i was angry at the personal attack- ( i felt i was berated for a reply that was attempting to be sympathetic in a tough situation) i had not actually berated poor pete, all i had done was to try to put the other side of the picture the line about "retiring giving no consideration to me" was why i replied to him and yes i could have just said that i felt for him and hope he found a new GP but i don't think that would have been very comforting or useful!-

the other side of this picture is another human being (the GP) t approaching retirement age quite likely has his or her own health issues- even if that is not the case they have worked in a system that has historically expected its health professionals do work ridiculous l hours -(as a former RN it is something i have seen from the other side i also have cousins in the uK who are RN's and work in the NHS -our systems are not much different from that point) and perhaps that is why i see the gp's right to be able to reduce patient load and then retire as being equal to Pete's wants and needs- in fact i think that is the sign of a very considerate GP- after all he could have said nothing to his patients at all til the last minute and then retired! that would have been cruel but i can assure you its not uncommon! instead he has given warning so that Pete and others can find a new GP, that's the best we can hope for really. believe me you do not want an overly fatigued or burnt out health professional caring for you- that's when mistakes get made - so once again i will defend the GP in this case. i am glad that you and you family members have received good care from a system that is under funded and over stretched and you obviously have respect for them and recognize the under-funding but why is so hard to see that reducing patient load prior to retirement is this GP's way to try to protect his patients by giving them time to find alternatives, at least pete was not one of the patients cut! thats what i was pointing out- no berating, just pointing out the oher side to the coin!

i do now have an emergency call pendant but did not at the time of my fall as i simply could not afford the monitoring fee's they charge as i was not working at all and here in australia even though we have a public health system if you have chronic health problems often there are expenses not covered the emergency call pendants are one another is that as a person with ms i have a permanent catheter, i have to buy all my catheters and supplies with minimal support and this is a considerable cost and i then have to pay for the community nurse to do the catheter changes, i have been sleeping in an armchir fo 18months as i need a height adjustable hospital typ bed and i am on a waiting list as i can't afford one- disability pension does not go far- i eventually found a pendant system that does not require a monitor fee it just rings for an ambulance- previously i relied on having a mobile phone but it broke in the fall! i do apologise for the sour puss comment that was wrong of me but the comment about needing to sweeten up was unkind because i really did care about th situation pete was in but nothing will change the fact he needs to find a new GP so i tried to say that by making the gp a human with needs the same as we patients-. until 2 yrs ago i was still working part time in a call centre , one night shift per week giving nursing support over the phone and i alway did my darndest to try to help my callers find a solution- more than one night i just talked to a caller whose partner was close to death and at 2 am they felt afraid an alone and even tough i am not working a present i still really care for others .Since i worked for our version of district nursing i got to know a lot of the clients well and i found the same desperation and fear among many callers and infact i remeber one of my regualr callers ringing with concerns of a similar nature to those of Pete but he simply had not considered the fact that being given advanced warning of intent to retire was actually a sign that the GP cared, he was in such a place with his own health problems he had not been able to consider that side of things but did so once it was pointed out- admittedly being able to have a 2 way conversation did make it easier- there is less risk of misunderstanding of tone or intent as their obviously has been here.

so with that miss moggiemay can we please draw a lne in the sand- if it were possblie to continue the discussion privatelyl i would be more than happy to do so and in fact i don't thik our positions are so far apart - but i don't think this is the right forum to keep on with this subject now . with that i wish you well moggiemay

[moggiemay in reply to kebsa]

Hi Kebsa

Sorry for the delay in replying to your very informative letter. You are not very far off the mark when you say we are alike in a way I too am an RGN and spent my working life as A Theatre sister and then an Accident Emergency sister, I laterly worked in the Private sector caring for the elderly.I have retired now, and am sorry about that,

I watch some TV programs from Austrailia and they are very good and seem to have plenty of staff.

I moan about things here at times.The Health Board is downgrading our Local Hospital, I am in the Action Group to save it.

On the plus side here a care package would have been in place for you as soon as you needed it, with a hospital bed,pressure releiving mattress and carers to help you. paid for by the Social Services

I thought you had a care service like ours!!

It is good that when you are well enough you can work on a help line,

I had Neurosurgery 36yrs ago for Trigeminal Neuralgia and I now have it in my mouth and the Medication makes me so tired. I will probably have surgery

Do you have family near you, who can help or are you an ex pat brit,

I think about all your health issues and you have had a raw deal, some people sail through life without as much as a sneeze. I call that Sods Law.

Take care of yourself Kind regards Moggiemay PS I liked being called Miss

[kebsa in reply to moggiemay]

I worked mainly in general medical and then gradually moved to palliative care- i worked in the public health sector for just about all my adlut life. i have not managed hands on nursing for some yrs but had worked in a call centre giving nursing advice to members of the public. my las job was with a team of others, taking calls from staff working in the health sector reporting incidents in an effort to prevent recurrences but that was a contract and when it went for renewal the tender went to an interstate company so we were out of work. i was only working a few hours anyway and rely mainly on benefits.

in theory i have a package, i get one hours personal help per day as well as equipment but the problem comes when new equipment is needed- especially if it is something than is customized such as electric wheelchairs and the recliner which is made to measure. even if it is replacing an existing piece that has failed, they start from scratch ie, calling for OT assessment but not considerning any previous assessments, once the assessment has been done and states that a customized item is needed, they get approval to then prescribe whats needed and if questions need to be asked and clarified it slows things down - so basicaly its a whole load of red tape that causes hardship for the person who is waiting for equipment. i have now been offerend a place on a consumer advisory committee because of all the delays and issues- they admit that the situation of having to wait 2 yrs for an adjustable bed is a mistake but still defend the 6 month delay in getting the recliner. my argument is that they should have preventitive mainatianance and planned replacements rather than wait til something breaks down before trying to fix the problem but they claim thats costs too much-my response is that the money cost is the same its just they are delaying part of the cost at the clients expense. I want to know that if my electric wheelchair needs replacement that it is planned for some that i will not be left without but at present people are left with make do options such as manual chairs and maybe inc carer hours - but for me if my electric chair were to die i would be house bound and would really struggle

i don't have an family to help, i came to australia with my parents in the 70's, they have passed on and i never married- i have had very helpful neighbours and friends but sometimes their is nothing that can be done that would patch up the issue of missing equipment. we are heading to election this yr and they are talking about a National disability insurance scheme to try to address funding shortfalls. i know that many of us our sceptical about the scheme making much difference- i think it will mean more beauracracy and more meny going to pay for desk workers- i know that quite a few of us are looking for ways we can have a voice in making sure things improve- rather than this being a temporary vote buying scheme only

you are rite about Sod's law ( i call it murphys law but same thing) and Miss Moggiemay just seemed correct! glad you liked it

[mataubkitty in reply to kebsa]

I agree. Take some time in finding the right GP for you. Talk to them upfront about everything. Be bold with your questions and ask him if he can handle your case.

[Peridot48 in reply to kebsa]

I'm commenting from the United States where Obama tried his hardest to introduce socialist medicine. It has not gone over well. Our medical doctors resent the intrusion of government into their practices, their surgeries and hospitals. We have horror stories now because of "Obamacare". President Trump is working to reverse the ill effects of this socialist medicine which makes up 1/5 of American's economy. Doctors have stopped practicing because of Obamacare because of the their ridiculous paperwork requirements and a government that wants to tell a doctor what they can and cannot do. I have never know Government to make anything "better, faster, more thorough". I don't want Government managing my health!

[moggiemay]

Hi Pete, I am sorry you are unwell and your GP has retired. Have you not been placed on another GPs list?? If not get on to the Health Board for your area, It will give you the address on your Medical card and they will place you with another GP near your home. You seem to have been abandoned ?? Hope you are OK Regards Moggiemay x

[mataubkitty]

Are you seeing a pain management doctor?

[Pinky2233]

Hi Pete,

It sucks when the person you rely on the most is not there. It causes a lot of stress and worry. I didn’t think I would find a proper replacement at many junctures. Surrender to the circumstance if that is possible and do your best to keep your spirit alive with things that keep your mind busy and positive. Surround yourself with positive people anywhere you can find them. Keep up the hunt for replacement care and you will find it. It could be an opportunity for care you had not thought of and a new way of looking at things. It could be the right next step. I wish you peace.