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| | | From: Jen, PT (Original Message) | Sent: 10/8/2008 8:46 PM |
Message from the department chair at my university: Because your recent failure of PTHR 369 was due in part to your inability to retain information, the Department has concerns that your pain management may be interfering with your performance in the clinic. Our concerns are based on your previous comments and on our observations. <o:p></o:p> First and foremost, patient safety is our number one priority when placing students in clinical facilities for the purpose of clinical education. Due to our concern for your future patients, we must receive documentation from your medical provider indicating:<o:p></o:p> - your pain is adequately managed to enable full participation in patient care in an acute hospital setting for up to 12 weeks, and<o:p></o:p>
- your pain management regimen does not impair your physical or cognitive abilities to the extent that it would preclude you from practicing as a student physical therapist in a safe manner.
Failure to meet this requirement, in the absence of a request for a medical leave (with appropriate documentation), will result in dismissal from the program. Well ain't that a hoot....they're telling me that I will be dismissed from the program if I don't adequately manage by pain...but that I can not manage my pain by using any means that affect my cognitive function. I feel like I'm in a catch 22 or something. Narcotics impair cognitive function. Period. Well, I sure hope my MD will sign such a letter stating that I can return to being a PT without physical limitations. I'm skeptical... <o:p></o:p> |
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| | | From: Jen, PT | Sent: 10/8/2008 8:48 PM |
Oh by the way, my petition was approved for postponing the repeat internship until January 2009....whooppeee. |
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That's messed up. Wow. Nothing like getting a good kick in the face when you're down eh? Wow. That is just messed up. Adam |
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| | | From: Dan | Sent: 10/9/2008 12:56 AM |
I'm having a hard time taking that in, hon. But here's the thing. Narcotics properly titrated to mitigate your pain to where you can work and go to school should not impair your cognative functions. They should just take the pain away. Other than that they should have little effect. If they are having an effect, then try another pain med and titrate again. OK? Your pain doc knows this. And he should have no problem giving you the documentation you need. Chin up, sweetie. You haven't come this far to be thwarted now. It's clear that if patient safety is ever at issue you will just ask for help, just like any of your collegues would. Would they deny you entry into the school because of your small body weight? No. Well, it's the same thing. If you're handling a heavy patient, you get help. That's all. Hugs love, Dan |
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| | | From: Hannah. | Sent: 10/9/2008 6:37 AM |
 Jen, do not fear. Either it will get worked out with differant medication, as Dan says, (if that is even neccessary) or you vear off towards a similar but somewhat less physically demanding job. You were a born healer and helper Jen, it is obvious to everyone here. You will carry on , and you will help others, I am 100% positive of that! |
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I have to agree with Dan, medications in the right dosages will treat pain and not impair a person! Lot's of people work everyday and do just fine without having their cognitive reasoning and abilities affected, even when taking opiads and other heavier medications! I have always understood that if after the intitial breaking in and waiting periods for the body to adjust, if a soul continues to be sleepy and other things from a med, then the dosage is too high! If a person is getting the right dosage, then they will get relief without nessasarily feeling drugged. Shoot me if I am wrong Dan, but I don't think I am. And from a personal stand point and experience, I do just fine on the meds I take without being effected cognitively. LOL, if it weren't for the Fibro, and lol, that good old ADHD, I don't think I would have any problems understanding things at all. I take a lot of meds and do what I do and my meds only help me do it better and more often. That whole rigamorow just makes me think of when my company started trying to find ways of trying to intimidate me and get me to quit my job when they had no legal means to fire me! I smell that old company bull crap where they want to get someone to quit before they can be a liablility. And what makes me mad, is that often the person they force out isn't the one who will end up being the liablility! So you just do what you can and don't let them bully you around or intimidate you out of your dreams! In the end, it's you who knows you best and you are the best judge of what you can and can't do! I think you have done a great job so far. Don't give up or give an inch unless it's something you know you absolutely have to do and are peaceful with it! Like I said, you are the best judge! |
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| | From:  CyndyK2 | Sent: 10/9/2008 9:27 AM |
WHAT "inability to retain information"?? Who says so?? Your test scores have been consistently excellent, so how do they figure you can't retain information?? Just because ONE person who oversaw your internship didn't get along with you and claimed you didn't do well at your job? I would find that highly suspect. Surely your professors have given you good write-ups from your classes and your grades bear out your good standing in those classes? I do hope your doctor will back you up in the matter of your pain medication; I suspect you are, if anything, UNDER-medicated most of the time so that you're able to drive. You poor kid, you are really being kicked around by the establishment, aren't you? Trying to be as honest as possible, and look where it's gotten you. I'd suggest you get married, have your honeymoon, your surgery, and then go back to the internship and lie through your teeth about any pain you're in. Of course, if they drug-test you, that won't work too well. LOL
Cyndy
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| | | From: Jen, PT | Sent: 10/9/2008 4:40 PM |
Opioids have a physiological effect on the brain to be a depressant, meaning things become slow and they make you sleepy. Some drugs are stimulants, and make you all wirey and awake. These are simply the properties of the medication. Of course, managed in the proper doses, the pain management can be effective and the depressant effect minimized. I truly believe I have reached the point where the medications I am taking are doing more good than harm. I don't feel sleepy or of poor concentration when I take them; quite the opposite...they get rid of the pain so I can FOCUS....the problem is, the people of the "establisment" don't live with chronic pain, and don't have to manage these issues...all they do is read the labels which say "may cause drowsiness", "do not take when driving, or operating heavy machinery"...so really, that's all they have to go on are labels. The inability to retain information part shocked me as well, but they (the board of directors) are gathering that from my "slow learning curve" regarding safety on my last affiliation. My grades throughout the didatic portion of the program and through the first two internships were simply stellar. I have a 3.92 grade point average. I received a 98% on my first rotation overall, and 100% on my second rotation. My third rotation ranked me average 85-90%, and that's considered a failure. 95% is considered passing overall (24 criterion), as long as you are 100% on the first five grading criterion( safety, professionalism (presentation and interactions), and ethical and legal standards)I don't make the rules... As for the medications, I don't plan on stopping them unless I feel that the harm outweighs their benefit (for me, my patients, or my career). At this point, I am wishing I would have done the surgery in December and then the internship after I recover, but the petition has already been approved for me to return to the clinic in January (pending medical clearance....). What's done is done, and I'll make do. |
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