Jenn,

I'll tell you what I think...(wait a minute 'til I find my soapbox)....

Fire your specialists, go back to your General Practitioner and get him/her
to refer you to a Pain Clinic.

I currently see a pain specialist.  This guy was the co-chair at the Ohio
State University's Anesthaesia dept., but left to get certification in pain
management.  I had been seeing my GP for six years with intractible cervical
and lumbar pain.  We had been doing short-term opiates (4hrs.) and then
switched to Duragesic patch (fentanyl) and finally OxyContin.  He (my GP) is
a personal friend and was a bit nervous about government scrutiny for
prescribing controlled-release pain meds, so he referred me to the pain doc.

Initially, it did not go well.  The owner of the practice (not my current
physician) was my first guy to see, but he was arrogant and did not speak
English clearly, so I asked for another MD and got my current doc:  still
arrogant (in his own ability--not his bedside manner), but was born here.
Communication is not an issue now.

Pain docs are generally anesthaesiologists who want to go beyond "passing
gas" (don't we all? <g>) and develop relationships with patients in a
clinical setting.  Their focus is the physical and psychological perception
and amelioration of pain.  Because of their extensive study in pain meds and
substance abuse, they are looked upon much more favorably by the gov't when
prescribing narcotics (true in the US, anyway).

Most of them are completely qualified to perform "minor" surgery, such as
implantation of an intrathecal pump.  I will soon be progressing down the
same road as yourself, in that we are strongly considering the pump.  There
will be a "test" injection, but no placebo.  That is just some horseshit for
the university research, pure and simple.

Intrathecal administration of opiates for intractable pain IS THE PREFERRED
ADMINISTRATIVE METHOD!!!!!  It takes the responsibility for administration
out of your hands, so there is no chance of abuse.

With respect to abuse and addiction, the University of Boston recently did a
study of pain patients receiving long term treatment with opiates and found
7 instances of addiction in 12,400 cases (I will round up and forward the
bibliographic references later).  Bottom line, there is no statistical
correlation between true pain patients and opiate abuse.  When titrated to a
level that relieves pain, true pain sufferers almost never exceed that
dosage.

BTW, a good, reputable web site to start looking for pain treatment options
with long-term opiates is:

www.asappain.com

Let me know how you do.

-Kyle



-----Original Message-----
From: Jennifer Zubko [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2002 6:05 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: No Intrathecal Baclofen surgery


Hi Everyone,
Just a note to say I will not be having intrathecal baclofen pump surgery.
The team felt it did not help with regards to my pain. What hurts me
though, was that they caused me pain-- the doctor doing the injections
kept hitting my nerves, had a huge headache, and I could not differentiate
between the various and sundry pains. They also said they got the same
results as January 25th, but would not recommend surgery. I am very
confused, especially because I kept writing on my pain sheets that I could
not differentiate between pain, it was not my normal pain, etc. I don't
think they should have made jidgements when they were INCREASING MY PAIN
JUST BY INJECTIONS... IN BOTH THE PLACEBO AND THE REAL INJECTION HE HIT A
NERVE. I don't know if I should try for another doctor, go through the
testing again, etc.

Surprisingly, I am not disappointed though... Have not even cried...

What does everyone think?
Jenn