Life continues!
Went to see the gastroenterologist yesterday.
...Okay, anyone who's chronically ill (and especially any woman who is chronically ill) knows how good it feels when you talk to a doctor who gets it. A doctor who listens, and believes you, and actually explains what they're doing and why and what they think about your test results and... generally treats you as a reasonable person who, y'know, understandably would like information about your condition and agency in deciding how to investigate and treat it. So! My gastroenterologist is lovely and I have more testing booked for January and a plan for what to do until then and I am entirely happy with him and my treatment plan!
In not entirely unrelated news, I have decided that I am going to fire my rheumatologist.
Did you know that rheumatoid arthritis often causes stomach/gut problems? Including IBS? I did not know this until I did some research this week, and I asked my gastroenterologist yesterday, and he thinks it is entirely possible that my assorted digestive problems are caused by my rheumatoid arthritis. It is one of the possible causes he will be looking into, and is in fact the reason why he's doing specific test A before specific test B, and... anyway, yes, rheumatoid arthritis can = gut problems. It is a Known Thing.
It is a Known Thing that my rheumatologist has never once mentioned to me.
I have been seeing her for... six years? About that. I have had IBS for at least two. I have asked her if my arthritis medications might have caused the IBS, so it's not like she didn't know I had it. AND YET. Not a word. So, either she doesn't know of the possible connection (bad), or it didn't occur to her (bad), or it did occur to her but she dismissed it without ever investigating the possibility or telling me about it.
I would not have a problem with "This is sometimes a thing, but I don't think it applies, because (reason)." I do have a problem with "This is sometimes a thing, but I don't think it applies, and I'm not going to check, or even going to mention it to the person most affected by the possibility." And since I already had a couple of less-serious gripes about her, well, I'm going to get a new referral from my GP and GOODBYE. :P
----- Originally posted at my Dreamwidth account, feel free to comment on either site!
...Okay, anyone who's chronically ill (and especially any woman who is chronically ill) knows how good it feels when you talk to a doctor who gets it. A doctor who listens, and believes you, and actually explains what they're doing and why and what they think about your test results and... generally treats you as a reasonable person who, y'know, understandably would like information about your condition and agency in deciding how to investigate and treat it. So! My gastroenterologist is lovely and I have more testing booked for January and a plan for what to do until then and I am entirely happy with him and my treatment plan!
In not entirely unrelated news, I have decided that I am going to fire my rheumatologist.
Did you know that rheumatoid arthritis often causes stomach/gut problems? Including IBS? I did not know this until I did some research this week, and I asked my gastroenterologist yesterday, and he thinks it is entirely possible that my assorted digestive problems are caused by my rheumatoid arthritis. It is one of the possible causes he will be looking into, and is in fact the reason why he's doing specific test A before specific test B, and... anyway, yes, rheumatoid arthritis can = gut problems. It is a Known Thing.
It is a Known Thing that my rheumatologist has never once mentioned to me.
I have been seeing her for... six years? About that. I have had IBS for at least two. I have asked her if my arthritis medications might have caused the IBS, so it's not like she didn't know I had it. AND YET. Not a word. So, either she doesn't know of the possible connection (bad), or it didn't occur to her (bad), or it did occur to her but she dismissed it without ever investigating the possibility or telling me about it.
I would not have a problem with "This is sometimes a thing, but I don't think it applies, because (reason)." I do have a problem with "This is sometimes a thing, but I don't think it applies, and I'm not going to check, or even going to mention it to the person most affected by the possibility." And since I already had a couple of less-serious gripes about her, well, I'm going to get a new referral from my GP and GOODBYE. :P
----- Originally posted at my Dreamwidth account, feel free to comment on either site!