Vamc Psychiatrist Calling Me A Liar On Pain Issues

[vet201060]

Great advice about getting records! I am in the process of getting all my records now. Thanks for the info GuaymasJim. It has been very helpful. That is a good question 63SIERRA.

[Pete53]

When Home Health Care Nurse came to see me last week she asked if I had taken hydrocodone that morning and I said yes. She than asked for urine sample. Fortunately I had taken one that morning. I don't think she was trying to trick me either.

[vet201060]

They always give me the piss test too. I am ready to give up on everything but family is keeping me in it. I am just worried that someday I won't be able to use that anymore. I if I was gone my family would feel as bad as I do now. I know calling the vet hotline or calling the VA is a waste of time. I am running out of resources. I know I am not the only vet that feels this way. I am keeping my head above water at the moment. I am worried about quitting my career and self destructing.

I just got an appointment for MRI and X-rays next week. I was surprised that it will only take 2 weeks from the time Dr put in order to get it done. I hope to get surgery to fix my back and I dont know what to do about my knees. Still trying to get my head straight too.

[GuaymasJim]

vet201060,

You're right that is very fast for an MRI! Right after they finish the MRI, go back to the Imaging check in and tell the person you want a copy of it even before it is "read" by the radiologist. With the CD in hand, you can get the interpretation later from Myhealthyvet. They may send you to the ROI office or maybe not. Either way get a copy of the MRI on disk.

One or the real benefits of having your VA medical records in digital format is that you can easily search them using the Search feature in Adobe Reader.

Another search method is to just click somewhere on the first (or any) page>>>>then click Ctrl and F at the same time. A search box will open at the bottom of the page. Type in the term you want>>>then click on the forward or backward arrows. The latter method can be used in any Windows program and on any website including hadit. To close the search box click on the X.

Once you have found the information you want, print it out on paper including the page before and the page after for sake of context. The index of the released information will have a time and date of the MRI listed. Print out that page also. With this evidence in hand, no one will be able to contest the veracity of your statements. I am not very good at reading MRIs or ultrasounds but I can read CTscans. I print out the frames on an inexpensive black and white laser printer that show the information I want a particular provider to see.

[Vync]

Another often overlooked thing is the radiology department itself. When I got a full copy of my VAMC treatment records, they included some, but not all of my radiology records. At my VAMC, the radiology has a separate tiny office dedicated to archiving the imaging records (CAT scans, MRI's, etc...). I visited them and was able to get a DVD containing every digital image and ragiologist write up they had on file. The older photo film x-ray write ups were actually in my regular records, but they didn't show what the MRI did. The disc even came with it's own DICOM (i.e. digital imaging format used in medicine) viewer application so I could look at all the MRI layers. It was pretty cool. Afterwards, I went down the the VAMC business office and told them. They just said they forgot to tell me about that. If your MRI was at the VAMC, this is a good place to look for it.

[broncovet]

In addition to getting your records, you should consider getting another doc. If you do not have "trust" between you and the doc, then how is he going to effectively treat you?

He has shown his hand: He is not Vetran friendly. He is trying every dirty trick in the book. Get rid of him.