Chronic pain and being Treated Like Garbage - the Cost of Being Sick

I just returned from seeing my GP.

I explained what happened while she was away, that the other doctor refused to prescribe my pain medication. She gave me two boxes, five days apart, then a third under visible duress. That left me one full box short. That’s four days of untreated, severe pain.

My GP said nothing.

I asked why the other GP said she couldn’t prescribe.

My GP responded with, “I can’t comment on that.”

I was wondering who was lying to me, and assuming it wasn’t my GP. Now I am certain it wasn’t my GP who as lying. My GP believed my medications would be prescribed, in good faith.

They weren’t.

The other GP lied to her.

And in doing so, she knowingly left someone with a painful, progressive, incurable disease to suffer in agony. Because she could. That’s not medicine. That’s abuse.

That GP should not be practicing.

The most fundamental job of a doctor is to relieve suffering. To relieve pain.

We are now in a world where doctors refuse to treat pain - and other doctors say nothing. There are no consequences for being derelict in their duty of care.

We’re in a world where people with long-term diseases and permanent disability are being left in agony, discarded by a medical system that sees us as burdens, not patients. We are not being treated, we are being tortured.

Doctors who refuse to treat pain in people with serious, documented illness are not neutral. They are sadists. And they have no business practicing medicine.

I’m not talking about someone with a mild headache or a sore knee.

I’m talking about severe, constant, intractable pain.

Pain from MS, RA, Parkinson’s, adhesive arachnoiditis, spinal cord injuries, cancer, and many, many more horrible diseases.

Diseases that destroy lives.

And yet, doctors are allowed to ignore us. Abandon us. Deem us unworthy of relief.

Like I was.

My own GP, who knows me, knows my history, did nothing. She simply "fixed" the problem by giving me the rest of my prescription: 90 tablets. Enough for 14 days.

But where was her anger? Her outrage?

She promised I’d be looked after while she was away. I wasn’t.

She was betrayed by this other GP as much as I was. But she said…nothing. And I know she will say nothing. She will accept that this other GP decided NOT to treat my pain and won’t mention it at all.

And next time my GP goes away? What then? I can’t see this GP again.

Insult to injury is that I’ve now had to pay for three GP visits this month. That’s $180 I didn’t have.

I endured four days of relentless, unmanaged pain.

Because one GP decided I don’t matter.

Because she looked at me and saw garbage. Not a person. Not worthy of her time. Her disgust and disdain towards me were open and palpable.

And no one held her accountable. No one WILL hold her accountable. She is a law unto herself.

If you ever wondered what it feels like to be dehumanized in real-time, to be made invisible because you're sick and in pain, to be deemed worthless, this is it.

I apologise for not responding to messages and comments. I am very unwell. And I’m in a lot of pain. When pain goes untreated for many days in a row, it is not so easy to get it back under control again. I will respond when I can. Thank you all for your support. Treating pain patients like garbage has to STOP!