Ortho refusing treatment unless he tortures me

It never ends. Yes the headline is a bit dramatic, but it is 100% true.

Before I get into details about the attempted stitches removal I need to give a little more context. I was not told anything about stitches prior to surgery. I assumed they were the dissolving kind, which are the only kind I have had after surgeries. I think I had regular ones as a kid but I don't remember much.

For most people removing stitches is strange but not too painful. There are two factors that made this more painful for me.

I have weird neurological shit. Not only to I have SFN but also allodynia. Basically my nerves on my skin hurt. Not all the time and it comes and goes but it's not uncommon for my skin to feel like a sprain or sunburn because my nerves are messed up. I at times cannot tolerate socks or fabrics because my skin hurts.

Second factor. I have been fighting a post op infection for two weeks .I took the last dose of anti biotics the night before going in for wound check/stitch removal. I did not feel a lot better. My fever is less, but I am still about a degree warmer than usual and there is less redness. No significant relief. I was expecting to feel a lot better by now.

I asked the dr about getting lidocaine. He laughed and said they don't do that for stitch removal as it wont really hurt. I had no idea how it felt so I believed him and was a bit relieved.He left the room and the tech was going to start working. I was not looking at the tech and was looking at/talking to my husband. The tech then used some sort of wipe and I flinched because it stung like alcohol (it wasn't but the wound itself still hurts a lot).

This is where the gaslighting begins, The tech asked if I was having "anticipatory pain" I told him no that is real pain and my wounds still hurt a lot. I was't expecting pain. I am in pain.

Then he took out the first stitch I yelped and asked is there any way he could give me lidocaine. He said no because the lidocaine would hurt more than the stitch removal. I told him I understand lidocaine burns for a few seconds but what he was doing hurt way more. He refused and kept going.

I was screaming every time a stitch was removed. It felt like he was removing/ tearing my skin.It also burned a lot. After a couple I told him to stop and get the doctor because something is not right.

Side note: This was on the 19th, when the PA at the office confirmed the infection it was the 9th. They did NOT remove the stitches which are covered in infectious bacteria. I didn't think about this as I was in severe pain and had a fever but they are supposed to remove/replace stitches in an infected wound .Again I have had post op infections but only with dissolving stitches which did not need to be removed because they would be gone by the time the anti biotic course was done.

The doctor refused lidocaine said it's not part of "standard of care" (removing stitches in an infected wound is part of "standard of care")and is an infection risk .

Oh so NOW you are concerned about infection. This asshole didn't believe me(though he could have checked my medical records and did speak to my primary care doctor who explained the complexity of my illnesses before surgery) and fought me for me to get anti-bioitics after surgery. He said the surgery was low risk and infection is not common. I told him about my faulty immune system and history of getting infections with EVERY dental procedure or surgery my entire life. Other health conditions increase my risk of infection-these are know factors . I was not given anti biotics the day before and he reluctantly gave me them after surgery. I GOT A FUCKING INFECTION.

Doctor said the stitches can stay in for another couple of weeks but they will not be giving me lidocaine. He said and this is a quote "it's too risky as you may have already had an infection".

"MAY HAVE"? This mother fucker's PA diagnosed the infection and when I saw the doctor on Monday he said the infection was starting to clear. The PA left detailed notes and at the time the doctor was happy with how the wound was healing compared to the notes. Funny because the PA minimized it to me("just a little infection"). but apparently said it was pretty severe in the notes. Hmmm...
Now the dr is gaslighting me and saying. I "may" have had an infection which by the way they did not culture either. Even though since they seem hell bent on calling me a liar /hysterical if they did culture it (standard of care)it could potentially show no infection. It won't as I had an infection, classic infection symptoms with fever.

Why didn't the doctor connect the dots and consider the infection may not be clear ?I reminded him of my nerve issues too. It's like he forgot I had an infection and thinks I am being unreasonable.

Why do doctors never believe me even when they diagnose the problem/see it themselves? Why is it that abnormal lab results are constantly ignored and things like infections dismissed? This does not happen to my husband or other men in my life.They are believed and treated with empathy and respect(for the most part some rare exceptions). It happens to the women though all the time, especially those with complex chronic illnesses.

So now I am sitting here with a little over half the stitches in place. My doctor will not give me a numbing agent to remove them and they should have been removed(an me numbed up do to severe pain) 11 days ago because they have infectious bacteria all over them.

I fear because they did not remove the stitches when the infection was found and did not clean out the wound the infection is still there and in a couple of days I am going to get very, very sick as I am no longer on anti biotics.

My only saving grace is I have an excellent dermatologist. I am going to call and beg him for a second opinion on the wound and for him to numb me and remove the rest of the stitches. I know he can do that as he did a skin biopsy on me and does those all the time.

If he refuses I don't know what I will do.