Day 7-- {Thirty Days of Thankful}

Today I am thankful for the compassion of Shane's new Workman's Comp doctor, Kirk Leininger. His previous case doctor had a seriously bad bedside manner. He assumed everyone who was coming to him had a problem with pain medication use, and would not give him anything for pain at all. I know my husband. He does not abuse medication. He doesn't even take it before the "every 4 hours as needed" is up. Even if he is in pain and needs it. He isn't a drug addict. He has a serious back injury, and it hurts to watch him hurt. He doesn't ask for meds often. Only when he has to have his back injections, like today.
I get that some people do abuse prescription drugs and that doctors have to be careful about how and when it is prescribed. But this last doctor would never even listen to him when he said he was having pain. His solution was always to discuss surgery, which Shane is terrified of. He has a couple of friends that had the same surgery, and they were both worse off afterword. He'd rather deal with the pain than be disabled.
So, to have a doctor who listens to him and who talks to him and understands his needs is just really awesome. Doctor Leininger takes the time to explain things to us both and makes sure all of our questions are answered. I am so thankful that Shane was able to switch to him.