Medical Group of the Carolinas - Spine and Pain Management - North Grove 1330 Boiling Springs Road, Spartanburg, SC 29303

"My 82 Year old grandmother was referred here for her severe pain in her hip, knee ath and other areas of her body. The front desk woman Porcha? Was extremely rude to my mother and grandmother, great first impressions. But not to worry the doctor is even worse he does not know anything about the conditions that she was sent there for he had no documentation that he needed and he was completely inept making me wonder if he even has a medical degree, he treated her extremely rudely was rude with her refused to give her anything for her pain and demeaned her for her dementia as she cannot remember certain aspects of her life and cannot answer questions adequately but rather than having patience and understanding he would rather just be sarcastic rude loud and ignorant please avoid at all costs this place is very very bad to take someone to especially elderly as they truly act as if they do not care about anything that's going on with you."

"My mother has been taking pain meds for years to manage her pain. Today was her prescription renewal appointment or so she thought. They sent her home with nothing. I took her back in to figure what the issue was. I talked to Sonya who had an attitude from the start. She said we have already went through this before. My mother has the beginning stages of dementia so she gets things confused sometimes. I asked for her records and we will go somewhere else. By the way my mother also had COVID and was trying handle the prescription renewal from the phone but no one returns calls with answer to her questions. So she went to her appointment hoping to get what she needed. I would leave zero stars if I could."

"This review tells a story that speaks for itself and does not necessarily apply to any particular Spartanburg physicians or centers- CHRONOLOGY Douglass Allen suffered a left leg, upper calf sports training injury on August 24. Within a week, the upper calf symptoms were almost gone, but mild lower back pain radiating down the left thigh was occurring, especially in the morning. I took two weeks off before preparing for a sports tournament. I visited my physicians at Family Group of the Carolinas, Landrum, September 23, before driving to the three day tournament and was prescribed pain medicine which I didn't start taking until after the tournament despite mild pain. Following that September 25-27 tournament, my lower back, and especially left thigh pain became much worse and debilitating. I again visited my physicians at Family Group of the Carolinas, Landrum, October 2, and had x-rays of the lumbar region and was given additional pain and prednisolone prescriptions. An MRI was scheduled for 10/6. The 10/2 X-ray results follow- LUMBAR SPINE SERIES INDICATION: Left-sided low back pain and sciatica. Pain severity rated 7/10. COMPARISON:5/4/2017 Bony density is within normal limits, with no fracture or suspicious legion. The posterior elements are intact. The paraspinous soft tissues are unremarkable for age. Disc degenerative changes and posterior facet arthropathy findings remain evident ... prominent at L5-S1 and L4-L5. IMPRESSION: SIMILAR APPEARANCE TO BEFORE OF DJD FINDINGS MOST PRONOUNCED AT L4-L5 AND L5-S1. 10/6, MRI results- "The MRI shows multiple levels of moderate degenerative disc disease and narrowing. At L3-4 there is compression of the exiting left L3 nerve root as well as the L4 nerve root on the left." October 9- I was referred to Dr. Sonny Gill October 12, 16, and 19- I called Dr. Gill's office to see if they had received referral, to tell them that I was an athlete and had suffered complications of an athletic injury, and to tell them that I was debilitated despite two rounds of prednisolone and weeks of pain medicine. October 19- Late afternoon I received a call that I had been referred to the nearby Pain Center. October 20 and 23 I left messages at the Pain Center asking if they had received my referral and scheduled an appointment. October 25- As of today I have not been contacted by the Pain Center. My comments- Apparently Dr. Gill's office and the Pain Center do not use the Spartanburg Regional "My Chart" or reply to messages left on their phone system. I was referred, first to Dr. Gill, and then 11 days later by his office to a nearby Pain Center, I don't know which one. Now 6 days later, there's been no contact from the Pain Center. I've wondered for over 3 weeks if perhaps an epidural steroid injection might be indicted and prescribed. Also, I wonder if the sciatica diagnosis is correct since my symptoms are different. Unlike sciatica, sitting, even driving a car, is my most comfortable position, but lying down and standing or walking is extremely painful. I get little sleep because lying down is so painful. I hate taking pain pills, but have been taking prescribed acetaminophen-COD, hydrocodon, and gabapentin which help reduce pain only a little. The gabapentin (or combination of drugs?) has given me dizziness and vertigo, so I recently stopped taking it. I have been debilitated by pain now for over a month and seem to be no closer to resolution here in Spartanburg County than I was a month ago, so I have successfully made an appointment with the St. Luke Hospital Pain Center, Columbus, NC, for tomorrow Monday, October 26. What I think I probably actually need is evaluation by a specialist. In 5 weeks, I've gone from being a national class age group athlete to being so debilitated by pain (and some times dizziness) that I have trouble walking and sleeping."