Ashley Rodgers is a mother, wife and former healthcare worker. Additionally, she is a chronic pain patient of almost 30 years, who has been initiating legislative efforts to protect people in pain and their providers on both the state and national levels since the 2016 CDC Guidelines interrupted her pain management treatment in 2017.
#opioids #CDC #DEA
Can confirm the broken bones bit! End of Feb. I broke my foot and had a severe sprain and it took three separate visits to three separate doctors in order to get any pain control outside of Tylenol. The first doctor at the urgent care that I visited because they had an x-ray machine and because this didn’t feel like an ER emergency, told me I had a teeny, tiny stress fracture and a moderate sprain, and then in the very next breath told me they do not prescribe narcotics per policy. I did not once bring up pain management.
I tried to then, now that I “knew” what was going on with my foot and ankle, to make an appointment with my primary care doctor (he does not have an x-ray machine). The only issues were one, he was overseas, and two, he had put a blanket ban on prescribing opioid pain medication for his entire practice (still plan on meeting him face-to-face so he can explain this to me). I agreed to see the doctor that was filling in for him because I needed something. That doctor was very nice, he got me a sleep aid (didn’t do much) and tried getting me this Asprin based medication that I don’t even remember the name of because my insurance company refused to pay for it and it would have cost well over $700 out-of-pocket. I declined.
I ended up making an appointment with an ortho who I had originally planned on not seeing because I was told I had a teeny, tiny stress fracture, and a moderate sprain. Turns out that the stress fracture was a full break, mid-point, with bone displacement, and the moderate sprain was rather severe with shredded ligaments (namely the ATFL and there are some issues with the tendons running up the inside of the ankle). I am still waiting to see if it’s going to require surgery to correct it (I feel that it is). The orthopedic gave me pain medication thankfully which I took for two weeks and miraculously didn’t develop SUDs.
I fully, to the marrow of my bones believe that the urgent care doctor was more concerned about the question of pain management coming up than she was about the injury itself, she purposely played down the injury, and she did misrepresent the narrative in my charts.
The whole affair was rather traumatizing, and it put me, the patient at substantial risk of having to go begging from doctor to doctor. The orthopedic could have said no to my request for stronger pain control and could have written “drug seeker” in my charts. That happens far too often for it not to be a concern.
Thank you Mr. Joshi & Ashley!!! Thank you for getting Mr. Joshi, Red & yourself on a call with Congressman/woman Boyles. Wtg! Thank you for ALL & Everything you’ve done & are doing to try to bring change & adequate care back for the pain community!!! I honestly don’t know how you do it all. But I am SOOOO grateful & thankful to you for everything you’re doing!!!!
Thank you SOOO VERY much again from the bottom of my heart!!!!!