Rise up against the pain

Tonight I've been researching the healthcare system because I'm in extreme pain right now but I know if I go down to emerg, at the hospital it will just be a 4 hr wait and end in being pushed where it hurts, given drugs that may make it worse, taken my blood and tested for things that are already known to be negative and end up returning home because they have no room or time for me. That lands me in bed in ten times more pain so, I'd rather look at what I can do, as I am stuck in bed in a mass amount of pain that webmd says is either pancreatitis, kidney infection or kidney stones. I have all the symptoms for all three yet, if I go in just like what happened with my gallbladder it won't be diagnosed the way it should be, because the truth is the system is failing us, through over crowding, too long of wait times, not enough medical support and the list goes on. While looking into our health care system and why I am having such huge trouble getting the care I desperately need, I've found a few interesting links, if it's a petition it needs your name and if its an article I'd just like to share it so you too can be more informed.

Note the part where it tells you that my dog if treated by a vet could get better treatment than me a human being! Is there not something incredibly wrong with that? Did you also know that, "only 47 per cent of Canadians surveyed "fully believed that chronic pain is real".Thats just mean.

However, St. Paul's in Vancouver has a Pain Centre...that's hopeful yet it's probably way to backed up for me to even hope to get in...but I'm praying.

REPORTS & BRIEFS

Letter to the Editor - The Ottawa Citizen

A Perfect Storm is Brewing

Dear Editors:

Sharon Kirkey’s article “Oxycontin’s removal could cause a whole new set of problems” published yesterday, underlines the dynamics that are leading inevitably to a perfect storm.  On the one hand, we have an ongoing problem with drug addiction and on the other hand, we have a problem with massive ignorance about the appropriate treatment of pain.

Kirkey quotes experts who have indicated restricting access is not going to put a dent in the problem of abuse and addicts will simply switch to something else. It is also pointed out that Doctors are not being taught enough about prescribing opioids in the proper places.

This is true, for people doctors that is. Veterinarians get five times more training in pain management than people doctors.  Canadians are not receiving adequate access to treatment for acute, chronic (including arthritis) or cancer pain and this is leading to a growing epidemic.

It is time to support a national strategy for pain.  For further information, go to: www.canadianpainsummit2012.ca.

Sincerely,

Dr. Mary Lynch, Co-Chair

Canadian Pain Summit

-and-

Past President

Canadian Pain Society

Pain in Canada Fact Sheet

Presented by the Canadian Pain Society (CPS) and the Canadian Pain Coaltion (CPC)
Pain is poorly managed in Canada

• Although we have the knowledge and technology, Canadians are left in pain after surgery, even in our top hospitals. 
• (I was release the day after my gallbladder was removed and a few days later had to be readmitted for a 14 day stay due to complications)
• Only 30% of ordered medication is given, 50% of patients are left in moderate to severe pain after surgery and the situation is not improving (Watt‐Watson, Stevens et al. 2004; Watt‐Watson, Choiniere et al. 2010).
• Growing evidence has identified that many common surgical procedures cause persistent post‐operative pain that becomes chronic (Kehlet, Jensen et al. 2006).
• Pain is the most common reason for seeking health care and as a presenting complaint accounts for up to 78% of visits to the emergency department, recent research continues to document high pain intensity and suboptimal pain management in a large multicenter emergency department network in Canada and the United States (Todd, Ducharme et al. 2007).
• Uncontrolled pain compromises immune function, promotes tumor growth and compromises healing with increased morbidity and mortality following surgery (Liebeskind 1991).
• One in five Canadian adults suffer from chronic pain (Moulin, Clark et al. 2002; Schopflocher, Jovey et al. 2011) children are not spared with 15‐30% of children experiencing recurring or chronic pain (Stanford, Chambers et al. 2008) and the prevalence increases with age (Hadjistavropoulos, Gibson et al. 2010).
• Many cancer and HIV survivors have greater quantity of life but unfortunately a poor quality of life due to chronic pain conditions caused by the disease or the treatments that cause irreversible damage to nerves (Levy, Chwistek et al. 2008; Phillips, Cherry et al. 2010).
• Chronic pain is associated with the worst quality of life as compared with other chronic diseases such as chronic lung or heart disease (Choiniere, Dion et al. 2010).
• Based on US figures documenting that the cost of chronic pain in adults including health care expenses and lost productivity is $560‐$630 Billion annually it is estimated that the annual cost of chronic pain in Canada is at least $56‐60 Billion dollars (Relieving Pain in America - 2011).
• People living with pain have double the risk of suicide as compared with people without chronic pain (Tang and Crane 2006).
• Okay this statement to me is not really that surprising it's kind of stating the obvious.. but notable nonetheless.
• A recent review of opioid (narcotic) related deaths in Ontario, identified the tragic fact that pain medication related deaths in Ontario are increasing and that most of the people who died had been seen by a physician within 9‐11 days prior to death (emergency room visits and office visits respectively) and the final encounter with the physician involved a mental health or pain related diagnosis. In almost a quarter of the cases the coroner had determined that the manner of death was suicide (Dhalla, Mamdani et al. 2009).
• Veterinarian students receive three times more pain education than human health professionals and five times more hours than medical students (Watt-Watson, McGillion et al. 2009).
• I don't want my dog getting better care than me...this is just WRONG.
• Pain research is grossly under‐funded in Canada (Lynch, Schopflocher et al. 2009).
• this is true still in 2012.

From the Canadian Pain Summit:
 
Do you believe all Canadian children deserve access to the best pain care?
If you require surgery, do you want your post-operative pain treated properly?
If you suffer a painful injury requiring treatment in an emergency department, do you want to be sure that your pain will be properly assessed and treated?
Do you want your doctor or healthcare professional to be at least as well-educated in treating pain as a veterinarian is?

If you answered YES to any of these questions endorse the National Pain Strategy.

Visit http://www.canadianpainsummit2012.ca to do so now

Other Links to Articles:
http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3429974
http://www.canadianpainsociety.ca/en/publications.html
https://www.painbc.ca/content/pain-news
https://www.painbc.ca/content/pain-clinics-and-services ****
https://www.painbc.ca/content/recommended-reading-viewing-and-links
http://www.theprovince.com/health/Chronic+pain+growing+problem+health+summit+hears/6512207/story.html