Recent content by Sandpaper

...like an updated "The House of God"? There is clearly a need for a more jaded and cynical view of medicine as oppose to the touchy-feely lovey-dovey books regurgitated by the celebrity doctors out there. For many people the perception is that medicine is a profession, a "calling". And...

Anyone has the email address of the advisor handy? I have a few people who would like to shoot her.....a quick email. Thanks.

What's with the recent increase in random people wanting to do pain from other specialties? Neuro-radiology one day, ER the next. Any pathologist want a stab at it? And besides, you're already seeing pain patients in the ER. Just refill their Percocet and tell them to go see "pain...

Nothing sad about it club. Doing a caudal and billing for TFESIs is fraud. More people doing that and there goes the goose that laid the golden egg. And more, taking care of patient entails billing correctly and getting paid for what you do. It's this kind of fraudulent sh it that gives all...

Anything is possible, but whether it's probable is another story. You would have to be off mid-line and be in the intrathecal space. And even if you were, it wouldn't take 4 days for symptoms to manifest as is the case described above. Several weeks ago I had vascular uptake on an...

Yup. Great summary. Life sucks and then you die and none of it matters. Carpe diem! Where's my needle?:D

It has to do with practice set up. Four exam rooms and 1 fluoro room per physisican. Each doctor have three nurses and one fluoro tech. Nurses take the patient back to the exam rooms, get vitals, punch in their pain ratings, etc. The doctor goes in and eval the patient, and if they are...

DeInspiRespite of our best efforts, sometimes pts don't improve. *That is life and I prepare the patient for that unpleasant truth by impressing upon them the chronicity of the problem. *To a person the pt appreciates the fact that I have tried everything to help them. *There is no shame in...

Gentlemen, The echo chamber that is this pain forum has fostered a certain cozy and comfortable attitude about how pain medicine should be. One erroneous belief is that it is impossible to have a productive yet ethical practice. But as demonstrated by other posters like painchas, stim4u...

It is amusing that lobelsteve has called on his posse to continue to question the legitimacy of my practice. I never made it an issue; I'm simply advising the OP not to overlook a good practice. On the other hand, some seem to have a chip on your shoulder about what I do. There will be no...

Actually, your unprovoked and incendiary ad hominem attack does more to discredit your character than illuminate anything about me. I will go out on a limb here and say that your character attack is unsightly and sets poor example for what constitute a civil discussion. Further, your...

I find it amusing that people who know nothing about me or how my practice runs would make snarky comments about whether something is a "block shop". And so what if it was? What if I told you that we employed several psychologists and have our own PT facilities? What if I tell you that our...

2500 is not a big number. Like I said before, that was my average for the first two years out. I would see about 20 patients a day and of those, maybe 15-18 would be getting injections under fluoroscopy. I averaged at least 70 procedures a week. Throw in a couple of weeks of vacations and...

Averaged almost 2500 procedures a year my first two years out. It was way too much, but I learned a lot in the process. Now, I average about 35/week. A good living and still have my sanity.

Imagine that you are an anesthesiogist or a surgeon, and you are experiencing chest pain on a transcontinental flight. Who would you like to see at that moment to assess you? A nurse? a medic? an EMT? Or would you want to see a fellow anesthesiologist? Your stupidity is astounding...