Dealing With Doctors

If you have RSD one of the things you will have to do, whether you like it or not, is deal with doctors. In this section we at Fighting “4” Us work together to find the best way possible of finding, going to, waiting for, and all around answer anything and everything about dealing with doctors.Finding A Doctor*
*Note: This organization does not support or deny support to any doctor and will not give a list of specific doctors and only use their websites as a point of reference.
Finding a doctor who understands RSD inside and out is crucial. It may seem like all these doctors do is give you treatments and prescribe medications, but they also do something else as well. They give sufferers someone to talk to who really understands RSD and what it does to a person. Here are some ways you can find a really good RSD doctor:

1. Talk to other sufferers in your area
2. Look for a support group, either online or in your area, and ask them who they recommend
3. Go to the site of a pain clinic and look at the doctors they use. These doctors often work with patients outside of the clinic.
4. Ask your local hospital if you can speak to the doctors in the pain section of the hospital.
5. And if nothing else works, email Fighting “4” Us and ask if there is a sufferer near your area that you can speak to. (please understand that as Fighting “4” Us, depending on the time you are reading this, may only just be beginning the process of being known by the RSD world and may not always know someone in your area. Thank you for your patience.)
Once you have a list of a few doctors in your area, there are some questions you may want to ask the doctor yourself before considering which one to go to. These questions will help you better understand the doctor and help you know what to ask him/her once you get to the appointment. Here are some questions you may want to ask your potential doctors:

6. Find out how many patients he/she has seen or is seeing. This number will tell you a few things. First, it will tell you how soon you will be able to get an appointment. Second, it, along with the second question, will tell you if the doctor comes highly recommended.
7. Ask patients that you have already talked to how long they have gone to the doctor. Especially if there is a lot of doctors in your area, this will help you to know how much patients trust the doctor.

Going To The Doctor

To an outsider, it may seem like this section should not be needed. It should not be hard to travel to a doctor and wait in the waiting room. But for any person with chronic pain, going to the doctor is an experience we’d rather avoid. A person with RSD is no different. Here, then, is a brief conversation on how to better handle going to and waiting for a doctor.
Getting An Appointment
Making an appointment at the doctor that will work for you is extremely important. First, when making the appointment, explain to the nurse or secretary you are talking to about the RSD so that they can schedule an appropriate time slot. Another thing that could help you get to see the doctor quickly is to ask for a “prime spot”, i.e., first thing in the morning, or first after lunch.
Getting Ready To GoThere are a number of things that the doctor may ask you that you may write down in list for before you go so that the visit will go smoother. Keep in mind that keeping all of these lists on your computer will help, especially if you can not write due to having RSD in one or both of your arms. It is easy to update these lists, and when you need to go to an appointment you can just print them out. One such list is of all the medications you take, the amount you take each day, the number of milligrams and the time at which you take them. This will keep you from having to remember all of them when trying to fill out new patient forms.
Another list you might need will have on all of the symptoms you are having. If this is a new doctor, he will be learning who you are and your list of symptoms will help him to better understand your disease. If this is a doctor you have seen before, you might have a list of symptoms that have recently come up.
One list that I often forget to bring is my list of hospitalizations. Write down the date that you went (if it was too long ago to remember, at least write down the year), the reason (such as the surgery or disease you had or have), and what was the outcome of that hospitalization.

Your final list is actually the one that I consider the most important. This is your list of questions to ask your doctor. Many times when going to a doctor visit I will have a list of questions to ask the doctor. I will tell myself I will remember the questions, but thanks to the forgetfulness of RSD (some of you may know that better as RSDuh lol), I always managed to forget at least one. Writing down the questions will stop this from happening.

Another good idea is to call the doctors office and ask them to send you the insurance forms and pain charts before you go to the visit. This is important for two reasons. First, it is far easier to fill these out at home where you have plenty of time to do them rather then trying to work on it quickly in the few minutes you might have before the doctor calls you back. Second, if you have your RSD in your hands, you may need to take brakes every few minutes or every few lines of the paper so that your hands do not stiffen up. Do not be afraid to explain this to the person on the phone.
How To Beat the Waiting Room Blues
Whether RSD sufferers or not, we have all had to spend time waiting around in the waiting room For people with chronic pain, the wait is often even longer as a good doctor can often be hard to find. Before you shake your head and say “but there’s nothing you can do about it so why try?” let me tell you that there is a way to beat the waiting room blues.
It’s called a waiting room survival kit, and it can keep you busy, your children entertained, and should you get hungry, it will also feed you. Here’s what you do: Find a regular cloth bag: this is going to be your “waiting room survival bag”. In this bag will go a few things that you will need to make the time in the waiting room go faster and be a lot less burdensome. Here are some ideas of what to bring:
Reading: One thing that can always make time go faster is bringing a good book. Sometimes getting into the story of an imaginary person’s problems will help your own melt away. In addition, if you are in college or grammar school, bringing along assigned reading will make the time spent in the waiting room seem un-wasted.
Writing: In terms of homework, the same idea applies as reading. If you no longer have homework, maybe you have some thank you or holiday cards that need to be written out. You can bring your address book with you as well.
Another good idea is to always have a small notebook handy. While it is important to take notes during a doctors appointment and this will help you with that, the notebook may serve another purpose. There have been many times when I have been sitting in a waiting room and have an idea, something that I need to remember, or even just a small note to myself to stay positive that I want to write down. Having a small notebook handy will help you to keep track of these ideas.
Nourishment: Many times we schedule an appointment for right after work or school. Because of this, meals may be missed. Bringing along some light snacks and a bottle of water will keep you from going hungry.
Music: A doctors office will often have music playing. The problem is, it usually isn’t made for everyone’s taste. Bringing along a portable CD player and some of your favorite tunes will help you to relax and keep the noise of the waiting room to a minimum.
Medication: Just like eating, taking medication is often set on a certain schedule. Doctors appointments can often run over those times. Having a small empty bottle of a few of the medications you are taking will help keep you from going too long between taking medication. In addition, many times I will be just out and about and will cross over the time when I was supposed to take my medication. Having this small bottle on me at all times keeps me on a regular schedule.
Lists: You remembered to write down your lists, now you need to remember to bring them with you! Always keep your lists in your bag until the night before the appointment. At that time you should check to see if the lists are up to date. If not, fix them on your computer. Remember to put the lists back in your bag before you leave!Getting The Most Out Of Your Appointment
Doctors are extremely busy, and, most likely, so are you. Therefore you want to get the most out of the time that you do have. Here are some ways you can do this.

1. Be specific about what is bothering you. Telling the doctor that you “hurt all over” (even though that is often the truth) will not get you anywhere. If you do hurt “all over” tell the doctor what the pain feels like. This way, the doctor may be able to make a more accurate diagnoses and give you the correct treatment.
2. Talk to the doctor first about what is bothering you the most, the area that has the most pain, or the problem that is most affecting you.
   
3. Talk about what makes the pain worse and what makes it better. This will help the doctor to understand your condition better.
4. Make sure you understand the treatment plan that the doctor is recommending for you, be it medications, procedures, or physical therapy. If you don’t understand it, ask the doctor to explain it in a different way. If you still don’t understand the treatment when you go home, try looking it up on the internet or t talking to other people who have taken the same kinds of medication, had the same procedures, or the type of physical therapy the doctor is recommending. DO NOT start any treatment plan without fully understanding it first.
5. Bring a notebook and/or tape recorder to the appointment. This way, you will be able to take notes and/or listen over what the doctor has told you. Make sure you tell the doctor if you are tape recording the session.
6. Whenever possible, bring a friend or family member to the appointment. This way you will be able to remember more things. Also, talking about what the doctor said at an appointment will help you to get another view point as to what he/she said.

In Conclusion

I realize that no matter how many steps you take to make a doctors appointment better for you, it will always be a stressful occasion. Still, I hope that this article has and/or will helped you to deal better with doctors. If you have any suggestions as to what to add to any part of this article, please let me know and I will add it to this article. Thanks! Email: info@Fighting4us.com

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