Frustrated...

I need to vent a little. I have been having pain/discomfort for almost 3 months now on my left side. I had a colonoscopy in Feb. which was fine for the most part. They found a couple of polyps, one with high grade dysplasia. Ever since that colonoscopy I have been having at the least discomfort. At one point I was in the ER with extreme pain. I had a ct scan done and it came back mostly normal, but with a little swelling in my colon. The ER doctor wanted to keep me for observation but I asked what are you going to do for me, to which he replied nothing we are just going to give you IV pain medication and watch you. So I declined the stay at the hospital. I asked the doctor at that time if he thought it was due to constipation, because this is what I have been told by my regular doctor in the past. He said that he did not believe in the constipation diagnosis because he has seen too many people get diagnosed with constipation and come in later and lose their life.

Since that ER visit I have seen my regular doctor 4 times, I have been taking miralax every day for almost 3 months and have followed what I was told to do. Most recently I talked with my regular doctor and he felt that because of the length of time it was time to do some more test. Specifically, a virtual CT(colonoscopy). So I waited to get the call to schedule it and after a week I called and asked what was going on. The nurse had no idea why I needed to have the procedure done. She then called my GI doctor and they had no idea why it needed to be done.

At this point I bipassed my regular doctor and started to deal with the GI doctor. At my appointment with the GI doctor he said that the reason it wasn't scheduled was my insurance said they wouldn't cover it. I explained I would work with the insurance company and we came up with a treatment plan. Within 30 minutes after my appointment, I called them back with news that my insurance will in fact cover the scan. They then sent the referal over to the virtual ct department.

After a week of not hearing from them I called the GI folks back and asked what was going on. Again, I was told to wait and see that they were probably needing approval from my insurance.

Today I get a call from the virtual ct folks and they indicate that they had to decide why I needed the scan to be done and now that they finally agree that I need to have it done because of my history and they now need to send it to their insurance verification department to get it approved.

I feel like people think that I am faking this pain. I didn't ask for it, it just is. I feel like people are more worried about covering their own a..es and not focused on patient care. I feel like patient care is controlled by the insurances companies that could give a damn if you recieve the necessary care. I feel like when you have cancer doctors then decide that if you question why you have a pain for three months you must be paranoid that any little pain means your cancer is back. So they should just pacify you to get you to go away. I do not believe this. All I want is the courtesy that I deserve as a human being. I have tried to be patient and treat the medical professionals with respect.

I apologize for the lenthy post and my rant. I just needed to get it off of my chest. Otherwise, I fear I would say something to the doctors that would delay things even further.

Thanks,
Chris