What's True is What Our Patients Tell Us...

From: Helen Dynda (olddad66@runestone.net)
Sat Dec 7 10:20:09 2002


X> Pain Management: " What's True is What Our Patients Tell Us."

http://www.ic-network.com/handbook/brookoff.html

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING EXCERPTS FROM DR. DANIEL BROOKOFF'S EXCELLENT ARTICLE...AND PRINT THIS INFORMATION OUT FOR PEOPLE, WHO DON'T BELIEVE YOU'RE SUFFERING FROM CHRONIC PAIN... The Judgement of Others

" Patients who suffer from chronic pain also suffer from the judgement of people who call them names. Pain patients have suffered the moral judgement of those who treat them. It is scary that those who suffer are also judged by those who should be treating them."

" The worst thing I ever heard a doctor say to a patient is ' There is no hope.' There is always hope. There may not be a cure, but there can always be healing. Chronic pain can always be healed."

" The bible says ' No ill shall befall the righteous.' Do some believe that because you are ill, maybe you aren't righteous?? That's a terrible burden for a patient to bear...that you might not be good because you are ill. Everyone faces illness at some in point; but does that mean that they aren't righteous.

About Dr. Daniel Brookoff

" Living is our (the doctors) business. Sometimes chronic pain deprives people of living their lives and we found that if we give them pain meds, they heal. They get better. They connect. They get hopeful. That's our job on this earth. If you leave people in pain that is untreated, they lose hope and that's the worst thing that you can do. We want to restore their lives and their hope."

" Some physicians feel they can't use pain medications. They're afraid of them, afraid of causing and addiction. But at the same time, they love their patients. They hate to see them suffer. They're torn. It's an awkward position."

" It is true that some people who are supposed to offer healing, actually treat their patients with contempt. If they don't offer you healing and hope, find someone who will."

What is pain, anyway?

" Those not suffering from chronic pain have never felt what you feel. It is a physically different experience. If you tell someone about something they've never had, they have trouble believing it. If you can't believe your patient, you shouldn't be taking care of them. We're starting to learn that everything our patients have told us for the last 100 years is the truth. That's scary though because we've called a lot of people liars and have distrusted them. Our most important teachers are our patients."

" The medical definition of pain is that it's an unpleasant, emotional condition, in the presence or absence of tissue damage. The nursing definition of pain is far more interesting and says: ' If your patient says they're are in pain, they are in pain.' Nurses are the visionary leaders in pain treatment today."

" Dr. Brookoffs definition of pain: Pain does not have a moral value. Drugs do not have a moral value. Life is good...to be cherished, promoted and supported. We, as physicians, should not be moralizing about pain or it's treatments. We should be asking ' Has pain changed the lives of our patients?' If it has, we have to work to restore their lives."

A model or the Truth?

Biochemistry is the truth to doctors. If it has a biochemical explanation, it must be true. Yet, we know that it's just a model and it will change. What we learned in medical school is outdated in five years. What's true is what our patients tell us.

A few closing notes

When the caregiver tells the patient he's bad.. that's the worst thing we can do. Who are they serving when they accuse you of being an addict.. or that it's your fault that you are suffering? There is hope, strength and healing for everyone. Don't let anyone separate you from your hope and strength. Anyone who tries to is not on the right side.

Find people who will help you restore your life. Find the treatments that will help you restore your life. Life is good. We can heal the pain. We have medicines that work.

NOW...PLEASE GO TO THE ABOVE WEBSITE TO READ THIS ENTIRE ARTICLE...

[ Note: This article refers to Interstitial Cystitis (IC); BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SUFFER FROM IC TO BENEFIT FROM THE INFORMATION IN THIS ARTICLE!!]


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