Before I had skin cancer I had other issues.
Hypothyroidism to name one, and then Hashimoto's. These two 'problems' haven't ruled my life, but they have navigated the course. So years AFTER having these problems, I continued to feel worse. It seemed if I didn't have one symptom I had twenty-two! I had a tendency to ignore these problems, live with the symptoms, and regularly visit the doctors.
A few things I have learned in the AFTER:
1) Don't take the doctor's word as the Gospel. Now don't take this wrong...I believe doctor's are fabulous and smart and all that stuff, but I am working on my 6th doctor and I can tell you nearly all of them have something different to say and want to 'treat' my problems differently. The thing is, there have been many times I walked out of the doctor's office and not felt at peace with what they wanted to do, or I have offered up some scant piece of something I had learned about, only then made to feel foolish for mentioning it! It's frustrating when I haven't been to medical school, and yet, still want a say so in how my treatments go.
2) It's never okay to settle. Settle on what? Whatever! Don't settle for less than you feel you are worth. Don't settle on a single doctor. Or a diet. Or a workout. Or someone's advice. Or a medicine. Settle on what makes you happy. Satisfied. Worthwhile!
3) Never, ever, never, ever, ever give up! Never throw in the towel. Fight, argue, research, discuss, and get after it. There is not one single thing standing in your way. Nobody will do it for you, either. It's yours. Own it. Carry the banner for yourself. And don't ever give up until...(go back to #2) YOU ARE SATISFIED.
Let's talk doctors. I once drove two hours and fifteen minutes to see this doctor. I read reviews on how great she was, that she took the time to listen to your ails and wails. So, I booked an appointment because I thought she was just what I needed. She was an internal medicine doctor and I had high hopes for our relationship. I WANTED a good doctor, don't you see? I wanted us to be long-term.
As a sat in the exam room I heard her a few rooms down discussing medicine stuff with another patient. There had been one lady in the waiting room when I came in. It took nearly an hour for her to get to me. In walks this lady who barely could hold her weight. She was a very large lady and immediately I formed a biased opinion. But I stuffed that opinion in the corner of my dark self and told it to be quiet, stay still, don't rear the ugly.
My doctor was very thorough and listened to my concerns. We talked for a time and she ordered a butt load of blood work. As she got up to leave I noticed she had to rely on using the exam table as leverage. It bothered me. I watched as she slowly straightened up, shuffled to the door, heard her labored breathing. Stay down biased opinion, I demanded.
The next few hours were waiting at a hospital to have blood drawn. The guy called my name, looked me up and down and shook his head. He said he didn't know if I would walk out of there with all the blood he would have to draw. I eyed his fist full of vials and asked for cookies and coke on the ready.
I ended up with a $1,000 lab bill, a thyroid medicine, and a doctor who declared she had never seen some of the numbers my results furnished. My iron was way low (iron pills), my Vitamin D levels were barely existent (given pills again), my Calcium was crazy, my TSH number insane, all of my other vitamins from A to K were so low they would have won a limbo contest. Pills, pills, and more (say it with me!) PILLS.
I returned in three months to see what all these pills had done. More lab work. Results came in. Slight improvement on thyroid, less than satisfied results with vitamin levels. I watched again how my doctor breathed while standing, had to hold on to smartly placed furniture in the exam room just to leave. It broke my heart to think it... but biased opinion won right there that day. Doctor asked me to come back in a month after more rounds of pills. I never went back, for my opinion had finally came out of time-out. No doubt Doctor had a great bedside manner. No doubt she listened. No doubt she was on her way to solving my ails and wails. But she barely could function. My opinion was if she couldn't help herself, how would she help me? The long distance trip sealed it, I used it as an excuse to assuage my guilt. I realize not every doctor will be the picture of perfect health. I realize they have health problems, too. I realize they are human. But I had to move on because biased opinion refused to stay in the corner.
So, the search for another doctor went on. Yet, that's another AFTER for another day.
Peace and God Bless! (And hello Kim!)
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