A CYA visit to the neurologist

[post edited to remove specific drug names]

Thursday morning we got a call from the neurologist's office saying the doctor wanted to see us at 3pm that afternoon to discuss BR's medications. Now it normally takes 2 months to get an appointment with this doctor, so to have him call us in for a same day visit really got us thinking.

Could it have something to do with the latest MRI results? The pain management doctor had ordered a scan of BR's entire spine in preparation for the SCS trial. That put BR in the tube for a little over 2 hours last Friday evening. Did the results show something that necessitated a change in medications? Something awful? Something treatable?

Turns out the neuro was just worried that some of the medications on BR's list are contraindicated for people experiencing seizures. He specifically took aim at the XXXXX, XXXXX, and XXXXX. BR has good reason to be taking all three. XXXXX reduces neuropathy. XXXXX combats the mental fog caused by the high dosages of pain killers. XXXXX combats the loss of appetite caused by the XXXXX. BR's current quality of life is being maintained by a pharmaceutical house of cards, and oddly the neuro wasn't offering any alternatives for the cards he wanted to yank out.

By the end of the appointment, I had come to the realization that the neuro was not really wanting to change any of the medications. He just wanted to inform us of the dangers of some of the drugs -- something he forgot to do at our last visit -- and thereby cover his ass. He could have done that over the phone and saved us a trip to Round Rock. Sheesh.