[skotw]

hello everyone this is my first post here and i'm thankful i found you all. first off i would like to say to everyone that i wish nothing but the best for each and everyone of you who are dealing with rsd!.

My name is Skot and i'm 38 yrs old and never even heard of rsd until 6 months ago. I got injured at work 2.5 yrs ago. I've been thru 3 surgeries on my right wrist and elbow since then. I've seen 8 doctors so far. I faught my way thru the pain of pt with my arm and wrist for 8 months, hurting more and more every trip to the clinic and my therapist pointed out that i may have rsd?..that was the first i'd heard of it. So at the time my dr. sent me to a pain mngt dr and neurologist, 6 months ago. He then checked me out and a few temp. test on my wrist and looked at me and said i had rsd He explained to me what it was and that it is what was causing all my symptoms i'd been having and feeling. He then said i should think about a trial implant. So i thought it over the next few weeks and decided to go for it..i was tired of hurting,swelling,burning,freezing,and other symptoms.

Now workers comp only wants to settle with me and my attorney has told them NO!!!! So they inturn send me to another dr. yesterday...now get this!!!....i go for my appt and the new dr. walks in the room with me and says hi skot i have read your 3 inch thick file and i dont think u have rsd!....then he takes my arm and wrist and begin's to treat my like a contortionist bending it everyway he possibly can while i yell and scream in pain and then he say's hmmm nope i just dont think u have rsd ..!!!...i'm setting there crying in pain wiping the tears from my eyes. after getting my breath and gritting my teeth i ask if he's thru. thank god he was..because i wasnt giving him another chance with my arm and wrist...i ask him...if i dont have rsd then what do i have and can he explain to me why do i have all the symptoms of rsd. His answer to me was.... well sometimes people hurt for no reason and we just cant find why they hurt. i was floored when he told me that...he also said because i wasnt swollen at the time was a reason for me not having rsd..i didnt know what to think. in closing he looked at me and said skot allthough you have symptoms of rsd...shinny skin,discoloration of skin,muscle atrophy,severe pain,hypersentiveness of skin,among others i dont think u have rsd...but i do think u need the trial implant and stay on the pain meds, lyrica and nortryptiline.

I was at a loss for words..and just stood there and cried and walked out before i hit him with my good hand!..this was a dr that w/c got for me a so called specialist. i left thinking that w/c just wants a dr to tell them i dont have rsd so i want have a good case against them...now its one dr's word against annothers...and ofcourse the so called rsd specialist word will win out every time. i'm so upset now why cant they just do the right thing and take responsibility for my medical needs instead of chasing dr's to get the answer there looking for or diagnosis there looking for to get out of taking care fo me medically. i dont know what to do or think. thx for listining
God bless u all!!

[Shianne]

hi skotw,
I had a worker's comp dr. do the same thing to me. He bent my wrist to hell had me in tears. Hang in there. Dealing w/ workers comp is almost as depressing as dealing with the disability itself. They make you feel like crap for getting hurt in the first place. Don't let them get you down. I know thats easier said than done. So sorry you have to go through all of this. I wouldn't wish the RSD/worker's comp nightmare on anyone.~shianne

[skotw]

hi shianne,
thank you for replying. i'm doing my best to hang in there. i talked to my pain mgnt. dr. today and he said no matter what he had my back and to keep my head up. i am literally at my breaking point today. i have cried all day today! emotionally broken right now. my dr. up'd my meds for me today so maybe that'll help some. its good to know that my dr. is behind me and there for me, and to be able to come here and talk to people who know exactly what i'm goin thru. i'm fed up with w/c tho. they still wont get me a primary care dr. or otho dr. i dont understand how w/c can go against dr's orders and not get me a dr. for my meds i need and care that i need..there picking and choosing what to do and not what my dr request. just dont get it!...god bless u all and have a good night!

[Bussey]

Hello Skot,

First of all, I am very sorry that your job, as well as the workman's comp Dr., are putting you through such unnecessary misery! Adding insult to injury, is something that they are very good at! I don't know what your insurance status is, but I was wondering, are you able to be seen by a Dr., who specializes in the treatment of RSD, that is not associated with your job in any way? If this is possible, it could prove to be helpful, when going forward with your case.

I know that excluding the existence of other conditions, is a method that doctors use to determine whether or not you are suffering from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome. However, bone scans are done to include, but not exclude, the existence of RSD. Have you had a bone scan done? After I had been subjected to many tests, as well as, being seen by many doctors whose specialties varied, it was the results of the bone scan, that definitively indicated that I was suffering from RSD. It was not enough, that I was literally suffering from every symptom that I knew of, that was indicative of RSD.

This site may be helpful: http//www.hollins-law/PDF/RSD.pdf

Bussey

[reruho]

Skot,
I am so sorry you had to be treated so badly. Sometimes these doctors can be so mean. I do not understand why they do this to us. Are they trying to prove that we are lying about all this pain and suffering? It is beyond belief that they would inflict such pain on patient. Did you have to go to the ER for pain relief? Make sure that you document a trip to the ER, it could work to your advantage. How long did it take for you to recover from that visit.

I will tell you that I have't had many of your symptoms but I have RSD. Like you, I had a PT tell me I had a shoulder/neck injury because I didn't have all your symptoms. I tried to expalin I had had some of those symptoms but not all the same time. He undid my last block and I was in pain a half an hour after leaving his office. That was my first and last visit to him. I told my PM about it and that I refused to go back.

I also went to an IME, and even though the doctor was very gentle whatever way he moved my arm put me in great pain. I went to the ER for help. I was very surprised this doctor ruled in my favor and even said the two herniated discs in my neck were probably due to the car accident. I graduated to vicodin after that visit. I was lucky I had a nerve block scheduled the next week. which help undo that exam.

My husband hurt his knee at work last May. I t was a mess. He went to a lawyer to January and th ecpmapny he worked for tried to say he wasn't hurt at work. They had failed to file a report, a big fine. They finally admitted he got hurt at work, then sent him to WC doctor for an evaluation the week before the went to arbitration. The WC doctor said walking did not constitute a WC injury. He went to artitarion and the company setttled.

[skotw]

hi all,
UPDATE!! on my situation so far. i talked to my pain mangmt. dr. yesterday and he got the rusults back for the so called rsd specialist i went to on monday. and my pain magnmt dr. who diagnosed me with rsd told me that he along with his staff stands behind me and his diagnoses 100% and that he also had a conference with the w/c attorney wednesday and told the attorney that i def. needed the trial stimulator. my dr. let the attorney know that he fills i have rsd!!

also w/c still will not schedule me a appt. with a primary dr. so that i can get meds for my anxiety and nerves. it is getting worse by the day. so my pain mgnmt dr. sent a request for a primary dr. to w/c so it is on file now and in my dr's report. so thats 2 dr's that have requested me a primary dr. for me so far that w/c will not scedule. also they have not sceduled me an appnt. with a new ortho dr. since my old ortho that done my surgery's has moved outta state. that was back in dec. 08. my lawyer is all over it. i have court in oct. so maybe these issues with be resolved then and w/c will be forced to do the right thing. they've tried to settle with me 3 times so far and we've already been to a mediation and the wanted to settle with me then...my lawyer said no and i said no!!

[Bussey]

Hello Skotw,

I think it's crucial that you get the medication for your anxiety and nerves! What about your pain management Dr.? Would he be able to write a prescription for you, for that medication?

I'm glad that you have a very concerned lawyer!

Bussey

[skotw]

he bussey,
i asked my pain mngnt dr. the same thing and he said he cant give me meds for nerves or anxiety due to legality issues, so thats why he has requested to w/c for a primary care dr. for me. i really dont understand that either because he gives me anti depressants now...go figure..lol. who knows.

[reruho]

Perhaps he is limited to pain management and can not function as a primary care doctor. I find that all crazy. I think they should be about to treat all your RSD symptoms. I would love to have a primary that could handle all this stuff. Oh, how I would love to have one doctor instead of several. I had my forehead start peeling and I was sure it was RSD-related, the PM said go see a Dermatolgist.

[jcrewrockstar]

Oh boy, sounds like you are pretty much telling my story. I "passed" two of these IME (Independent Medical Exams) before W/C found a doctor that would "fail" me, tell me I didn;t have RSD, call me crazy, say I was exaggerating symptoms, and write up the biggest BS, unethical report with no medical truth in it all. And, like you, this doctor (who say me for 5 minutes at most, and I am pretty sure made up the "exam" herself) was very rough. My shoulder was the initial site of injury, and she pushed, pulled, put all her weight on it despite myself, like you, letting her know it hurt and was crying. I felt raped after the exam to be honest. I was thrown into a paper gown (freezing of course), this doc never introduced herself, looked me in the eye, or asked me a single question. She would just say "get on the table," or "get off the table." All the while she roughed my body up. Then, when she decided she was done with the exam, she said, "you can put your clothes on now" and left.
I was left there crying, freezing, in a gown, feeling violated, and in pain. My favorite was when she had me close my eyes and relax and then stuck a tack in the bottom of my foot. Of course, my reaction was to quickly move my foot because it hurt (as it would anyone). She asks me, "why did you jerk your foot like that?" I looked at her dumbfoundedly, and responded with the sarcastic, but true response, "Um, because you just stuck a tack in my foot!"

W/C, bottom line doesn't want to have to pay for RSD treatment. It's lifelong and expensive. Don;t give up and think this person's word is the prevailing word in court. Your treating doctors have much more weight with the judges. Don't quit fighting and lose hope that you will win your case. It might take a long time to arrive at justic, especially when it is nowhere in sight, but is at the end of the rainbow. Use that anger, toward that doc, to fuel you to keep fighting for what is right.

jcrewrockstar