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AAAAA · Sep 29, 2009, 01:04 AM

About 12 years ago my husband severly injured his back at work. It took over a year to get him to go to a doctor. That was a fiasco, he went to the local jack of all trades doctor that the company contracts with who very nearly cripled him for life. Evenutally our trusted family doctor told him Dr. X is the man to see, he's the best in the state and it's your right to see him. Dr. X examined hubby's records and films and agreed to take him on as a patient. But it then took five years to convince him to get the surgery that would give him some relief.

I seriously thought he'd end up addicted to the pain meds. He was chewing oxy like candy in an effort to control his pain. In his sleep any slight movement would cause him to scream out in pain waking him up. He had the surgery and to my relief quit taking the pain meds two days after the surgery. For the next five years things went pretty well, if he over did something, he'd be in a great deal of pain, but other than that it was "manageable" (using only OTC motrin).

Being a man (sorry men out there reading this) he is either unwilling or unable to admit his limitations. For the last sixish years his back has had a major flare up twice. The first time he really had no clue that it would happen, he bent over to pick up something he'd dropped and it was enough to put him out of whack. The second time he did some heavy, awkward lifting that he should have known better than to do.

Well a few weeks ago, he stuck his head up his butt and was pulling wires, they broke and the combination of twisting/falling was enough to put him back in the red pain level again, with the added bonus of having his three small toes numb.

Luckily this scared him enough to make an immediate appointment with his specialist. But he's back to his pre-surgery pain level. The pain meds and muscle relaxants make it so that he can get some sleep, but moving or turning makes him scream out in pain. He'll actually cry in his sleep and not even know it.

I don't know if it's the meds (vicodin, muscle relaxants, and steroids), the pain, or the hoops he has to jump through to get proper medical care or a combination of them all, but he's so depressed and dispondent. When I try to talk to him about it he just keeps repeating "I just can't block out the pain anymore".

I just don't know what to do anymore. I know that the medical treatment crap will resolve itself because Dr. X is the best in the state, he's above reproach and who they go to if there is a question. When he had to see the workman's comp specialist the appointment took literally five minutes. But that doesn't change the nurse at his company's attitude. She's very bitter because this doctor's assistant put her in her place, flat out telling her she's an LPN, he's an MD and her opinion is not welcome.

So it doesn't help that she gives him crap about his appointments and their "lack of open communication". But there's just nothing here I can fix.