Beautiful, well written, eloquent post Redhill. I too have a very compasionate doctor, who tries very hard to keep my chronic pain in check. However, I too have been left in a lurch waiting for an "emergency MRI" - which took a week, before I could get an epidural. I continue to tear the annulus in one low disc. This sends me way up there on the pain scale. In part, I believe it was my inability to advocate strongly for myself the degree of pain, and the necessity of getting adequate relief until the epidural. And demanding an emergency epidural. However, all doctors are becoming more afraid of prescribing adequate amounts of whatever to hold one's pain due to the pressure from the "authorities" - HMO's and states that are starting a centralized tracking system for all prescriptions written by one's doctor, as well as all on-line purchases for oneself in that state. The pharmacies will have to report as well. It is getting very sick - and those of us in CP are getting the shaft due to unscrupulous IOP's or drug addicts. I hate to see that in Louisianna, now that any OP from a different state will be referred to the Louisanna AG's office for prosecution. Whoa.