my fiance has some severe pain at times and when he goes to the hospital they act like he is crazy !! the dr and nurses act like he is imagining the pain !! why would anyone fake severe pain ? They also dont know what dysreflexia is here at our hospiatl ! We have made several copies of things explaining dysreflxia and have given it to the staff !! How crazy is this? does anyone else have any of these problems with drs or is it just us? my fiance is a c3/4-5/6 incomplete and has been paralyzed since he was 16 we are both 31 now so it has been awhile!!!

I have been told "but you can't feel your legs, what do you mean they hurt!"

Ignorance, plain and simple. They could crack open a book, or turn on a computer to do a bit of light reading and figure it out. Try explaining to a first year nurse what Cauda Equina syndrome is. You might as well try explaining the laws of thermodynamics.

Also, not many nurses or even some doctors have dealt with spinal cord injuries, and until they are schooled in such manners they will remain ignorant of the issues associated with.

Dave.

I got so tired of being told, "you have no feeling or movement below the level of injury, anything you may experience is imaginary", "it's called PHANTOM PAIN, it's in your mind." (spoken as one would speak to a child) and similar platitudes whenever I'd complain, I finally just gave up and try not to think about it too much.

Makes me wonder if perhaps those medical textbooks from the 1800s could use an update.

We've had issues here in WI too. Some of the doctors/nurses have been great! Others, like the ER doctor he had before he found his neurosurgeon......what an idiot. "Hmmm, the sweating might be caused by a UTI?" NOT A UTI!!!! And just because my hunband is in a wheelchair, don't assume that he is deaf and dumb!!!

I agree wth fatdave. They just don't know enough to understand. Most doctors are taught to perform examinations on the able-bodied, not deal with paras and quads. Until they are taught how to talk to and understand them, finding and good doc will be difficult.

my fiance gets so sick of the crazy drs here that tell him he feels no pain that they are crazy and because he cant feel his legs he knows his stomach hurts just like they would theirs !!! We get so tired of having to explain what dyreflexia is to them !! Eddie could have a degree to be a dr , just by knowing all that does on his condition !!! living like this for overe 16 years !!! thanks everyone for replying !! glad to know we arent the only ones that have this problem!!!



Keidra

Unfortunately, a doctor that graduates last in his class is still called DOCTOR.
As my pain gets worse my blood pressure skyrockets. My heart races. This is Autonomic Dysreflexia. Blood Preassure meds bring it down while we try to ease the pain with narcotics. with time I have learned to block pain but my body has not. I use to have the problem of explaining it to people that should be aware of it. Now, it seems the village idiot can see that something is seriously wrong. It has damaged my heart over the years and everywhere I go my Dr. makes sure My information gets there first.

Best wishes,
john

the doctor that circumcised my boyfriend when he was 30 which was 4 yrs ago thought he would not feel nothing so he gave him nothing while he got circumcised . he decided to get circumcised for his own reasons kinda hates how the doctor was. he is never going to see him again .

I get so sick of hearing "We're the experts". I'm paralyzed, not retarded!

Some good questions get dumb answers,,,, some dumb questions get good answers....

When you find a doctor who gives the good answers to both,,, and is willing to say "I don't know,, but I'll find out",, and does..

He's the keeper. I was lucky enough to find one.
ed