Marina has been in a lot of pain the last few days. To the Doctors Hu, Chu, Woo, and Koo, we now add Dr. Null, who was the physician Marina ended up with this morning, luck of the draw, while Dr. Misakian is away for a few weeks.
Marina, of course, suggested he go into partnership with Dr. Void.
But he's a keeper. He is one of the senior physicians on the staff at UCSF, and his reaction was indignant. "You mean you've had this pain for two months, and no one has referred you to a neurologist who specializes in neuropathic pain?" He assured Marina that he would make such a referral tomorrow, and call him directly if his referral specialist, Jeremy, doesn't call.
Meanwhile, the pain lament sent to Dr. Hu's office produced a prompt response from her practice manager, saying that it seems appropriate to consult with a physiatrist. This was a term we did not know, but now we know it is a physician who specializes in long-term or chronic conditions. (Do you know about the wonderful "define" feature on Google. You type in, for instance,
define:physiatrist
and up comes a range of short definitions from various sources. )
One might ask why these suggestions were not made two months ago . . . but anyway, between the impending neurologist and the impending physiatrist, it looks as if expert advice is on the horizon.
Meanwhile, Marina has increased her dosage of the painkiller Norco (from one to 1 1/2 tablets; it has originally been two), and already there is some good effect in reducing pain.
At least Marina is in the mainstream. The cover story in the new Time magazine is on pain management (and it mentions the Neurontin drug that Marina may eventually be able to take).
Posted by John Bear
at 9:08 PM PST
