Back Pain And Went To Urgent Care......told Back Pain Due To Constipation

[yelloownumber5]

Hello,

1. We just returned from the VAMC Urgent care and I have a few questions and maybe crazy or have high expectations.

The first question. The room I was put in at urgent care had a lot of ants. I did not see them until the doctor told me but they were on the side of me as in not in the corner at the wall or under a deck. I was not in a r00m with a bed but in a chair and literally like 6 inches from my foot were a darn tribe of ants and then a line of ants toward the front of the chair. The person that put me in the room did not see them, I did not see them, the nurse did not see them but the doctor when he came in made a comment but nobody came to clean them up. My wife and twenty month old daughter came to the room after about 1 1/2 hours later after I had xrays and my wife said OMG ants on your feet, so they were killed, lol.

I asked if we could change rooms b/c of the ants, the guy put us in the next room over on the same side and he went in the room with a yellow bottow which I assume is "raid" and talked about needing to call the exterminator in the morning.

I did take pics and videos of this because it was like a lot of ants and they started running over my feet not that I could feel them but my wife told me, To me that is just nasty to me, the ants looked to be eating something on the floor that was stepped on.

Anyhow, who can I forward this info to outside of the local and regional VA here and would that be acceptable or just too much?

2. My back (lumbar or PGP) I went to UC because I could not get out of bed, could not walk, have fallen probably 20 times in the last two days as this just came out of no where but I have reported lumbar issues and use a tens, meds tramadol and muscle relaxer flexural.I have never hugged the wall in my life but being unable to stand up I learned. My pain to me feels like PGP (pelvic girdle pain) or maybe an annular tear.

My UC Doctor seemed really good but even though I told him of my past back historyand the current issues like my left nut felt like it was going to explode he felt I had kidney stones or something else so Xrays, blood work and urine test went on.

All came back negative but as I told him, no bowel movement in the last 48 hours and the xray showed me backed up which he gave me something to release the bowels. He did not want to give me a pain med because I am constipated and it will make it "worse", so I did not get any pain relief even as he acknowledged my pain level and my attempts to walk and get up.

The kicker and insult to me was my "Diagnosis: Constipation" The doctor said he felt the constipation is causing my back pain. Constipation was not what I came in for, this can be a symptom of what is wrong but they did not do a MRI or Xray on my spine. I do know that Saddle anesthesia or cauda equina syndrome can cause constipation but constipation is a symptom of something not a cause or I might really be crazy can someone help me with this. Also, is there something I can file in my record about my severe lumbar pain vs. constipation.

Oh but look. My nurse went looking for me and this was actually ONE room next to the ant room, nothing closed but she went back up to the front with my script and said "he already left, there's nobody in room XX, he must not have had back pain after all, my wife just shook her head as I could not even drive. Someone even put in morphine for me but I never received it b/c it can constipate me even more and I know this but my back pain is still my first problem as I cannot even get out of bed by myself the the flexerall and tramadol my pcp prescribes for me.

I'm unsure if this site will let you upload videos but I can try in the AM

Thanks and sorry for a dumb post but I appreciate any insight.

YelloowNumber 5

Edited September 3, 2013 by yelloownumber5

[Vync]

Hey yellow,

I hope you are feeling better.

Things other than medication can cause someone to get backed up, especially if you ate a lot of food or took vitamins high in IRON.

I had a problem very similar to yours. My lumbar was already a bit jacked up due to herniated discs. I went to a steak house and admit to eating more than my share of medium rare. I didn't need to go to the bathroom for a couple of days and then experienced increasing pain in my abdomen and lower back. The doc did x-rays and pointed out the constipation. Apparently I strained too much trying to clear things out and re-herniated my discs. The morphine IV was a big relief, but they sent me home with a bunch of laxatives after it passed.

Unlike your visit, I did not have to endure ants. Those are the worst! Evil!

If you see unsafe situations like that, make sure to notify the facility Patient Advocate.

Edited September 6, 2013 by Vync