# HipJan, JLeigh, BellyKnot and anyone else...



## LaurieJ (Sep 3, 2002)

Hi you guys,I finally have time to check in with all of you to see if there is anything new going on (?).I hope all of you have been feeling better and are living life away from doctors and hospitals!My MOM (Mind over Matter) experiment has been working ok - I haven't been able to go completely off the pain meds but have succeeded in reducing my usage. I also have gained a little weight - which I think is the best indicator of what is going on inside. I see my pain doc tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed that she will still be willing to treat me. My big job now is to get my reference journal articles put into a database for easier retrieval of information. If anyone needs any information about pancreatitis - diagnosis, treatment and symptoms - Just ask!







I am also scheduled to see my husband's PCP - on her request - next month. My hopes from this visit is to establish her as my last resort for acute care if I should have any type of pancreatitis flare that I am unable to bear. If I go to an ER on my own, I will not get care as the one at the hosptial where I work has me labeled as "drug seeker" and the one where my ex-GI is will not treat me for the pancreatitis because this is no longer an established diagnosis. Frustrating to know that there is no place in the city that I can go to for help. But hopefully, no help will be required or having this PCP on my side will force them to give me care. Have you noticed how the doctor / patient relationship has become so adversarial? Is this a result of the litigation problem? I have never been so mistrusted and mistreated by strangers and those in service oriented jobs as I have been by doctors. I don't get it at all - any insight that you have on this topic would be great. Basically I have noticed that doctors mistrust their patients right from the start: that they don't trust us to report our signs and symptoms acurately, that they are suspicious of our motives for asking for treatment, that they think we are wasting their valuable time, that we cannot be trusted to take our meds or to know when we need to see someone for an urgent problem. This is so against what I have always expected from the medical profession and this attitude has demoralized me as well as literally scared me. I understand that health care is a personal responsibility but there are times when a doctor's intervention is needed and welcomed. But I cannot deal with it being an adversarial relationship! Why should I have to be so guarded to the extent that "anything you say may be used against you in a court of medicine"? Oh well......Here I go again, sorry, but I just received an email from a friend that was so mistreated at an ER that I ended up having nightmares about it last night - and he is even an ER doctor himself! So if doctors can be so cruel to one of their own, how can us "lay people" have a chance! It makes me even more determined to make my MOM experiment succeed!I hope all are doing well and that we can keep our "learning circle" active for a little while longer.Laurie


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