Pretty much pointless doctor appointment today
So my endocrinologist referred me to another endocrinologist (his friend) to see if this doctor could give me some insight into my failing health. Well.. after waiting MONTHS to get this appointment, I find out that this doc is baffled by why his MENTOR and TEACHER would send me to him when he would not know any more than my original doctor. Oh.. and I quickly realized how true this was.. The man's knowledge (or lack there of) did not impress me. I'm not going to get into the details.. and I want to give the man a fair chance.. he will now hopefully take time to review my entire medical history which I handed to him.. He ordered some basic thyroid bloodwork (whoop dee doo), and he now diagnosed me with another medical condition (though I would hope he'd wait to get the bloodwork back first before telling me this). The only GOOD things that came out of this visit were:
-I realized my original endocrinologist is a better doctor and I want to stick with him from now on.
-This guy did an ultrasound of my neck and thyroid which hasn't been done since 2004 when I was first diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, and he thinks that based on what he saw, I now have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis or Hashimoto's Disease. Honestly, this really makes no difference to me because Hashimoto's causes Hypothyroidism, which I am already being treated for.. so I guess all the diagnosis would tell me is that I do in fact have an autoimmune disease. Shocker.
-He is testing me for Vitamin D deficiency which no other doctor has done yet (which is funny cus that's what my boyfriend recently found out he has).
Anyway.. I can't get into every detail because my brain isn't working to full capacity lately, but all in all I was NOT impressed with this doctor.. and he said my main problems don't seem to be endocrine and maybe I should go back to the neurologist. Umm.. KTHX. It's funny considering how many of my symptoms seem to point to the hypothalamus, but I guess he just treats very basic endocrine problems. I know this because the man could not think outside the box. I told him how the other doctor said it may be something more rare and that one of the reasons he sent me to him was because he had better facilities to do testing that he couldn't do in his office. He didn't want to even entertain the idea that it couldn't be the most common solution and pretty much gave up on me halfway through the exam.
Best part was when he questioned me as to why my doctor sent me to him when he thought the other doctor was more educated in this field. Yeah.. that gave me confidence.
I also inquired about possibly switching my thyroid meds from synthetic to natural (Synthroid to Armour) since I obviously am not feeling well on the Synthroid which I have been on since 2004. He quickly told me how he does not prescribe Armour (All I have been reading about Armour over the years is how so many people who didn't feel well on Synthroid felt great on Armour).. Then I noticed the huge Synthroid poster in his office. Ugh.. I hate doctors like him. God forbid you try something different.. something natural.
Ugh.. so whatever.. I have been having one of the worst weeks since I became sick on 2003 and I was kind of hoping this appt today would give me some hope.. But all I thought as I left his office was "I give up" and "this was a waste of time and energy". I was going to post about this before, but Ugh.. I just feel like I'm whining. I have been having the most trouble driving I have ever had. I had to be picked up twice in two days when I drove down the street and couldn't drive back. I also had to go yesterday for an emergency appt with a radioloigst to check for a blood clot in my leg since my leg and foot have been going numb all week.. Good news is it's not DVT.. Bad news is, it's just from the Fibromyalgia.. I guess that's the answer for everything. Whenever my body does something strange, it's always from the Fibro :/
I guess I'll make an appointment with my neurologist now and play the game again of doctor musical chairs. Part of me doesn't want to give up yet, but part of me can't live the rest of my life feeling half dead and knows she DESERVES better treatment than what she's been getting. Part of me wants to keep fighting. Then again part of me never wants to step foot inside of a doctor's office again :P
So yeah.. they said the bloodwork will come back tomorrow, so hopefully this doc will call me soon and tell me where to go from here. Then I fire him and go back to my old endo :)
p.s. I really don't like it when doctors treat me like I am an idiot and I don't know anything. All I have been doing since 2003 is educating myself on all of my conditions. This may sound snotty to say, but sometimes I feel like I know more than the doctors. :P
****
Please give me spoons because I need to save up all of my energies for a very important event this weekend. One of my oldest and dearest friends is getting married on Sunday and I really want to be able to enjoy it.. I want to be awake. I want to dance.. I want to really enjoy this special occasion.. I don't care if I have to sleep for days after to make up for it.. I want to BE THERE. I keep saying how I want to LIVE.. i want my life to be more than doc appts and pain.. I really just want to be able to celebrate with my friend on Sunday and enjoy it. It is SO important to me that I can really be there. I already missed so many other events.. I missed my friend's birthday, her bachelorette party, Yom Kippur dinner at my family friend's house.. I just want to be able to make it to the things I want to make it do and participate in life. I am so sick of missing out.
-I realized my original endocrinologist is a better doctor and I want to stick with him from now on.
-This guy did an ultrasound of my neck and thyroid which hasn't been done since 2004 when I was first diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, and he thinks that based on what he saw, I now have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis or Hashimoto's Disease. Honestly, this really makes no difference to me because Hashimoto's causes Hypothyroidism, which I am already being treated for.. so I guess all the diagnosis would tell me is that I do in fact have an autoimmune disease. Shocker.
-He is testing me for Vitamin D deficiency which no other doctor has done yet (which is funny cus that's what my boyfriend recently found out he has).
Anyway.. I can't get into every detail because my brain isn't working to full capacity lately, but all in all I was NOT impressed with this doctor.. and he said my main problems don't seem to be endocrine and maybe I should go back to the neurologist. Umm.. KTHX. It's funny considering how many of my symptoms seem to point to the hypothalamus, but I guess he just treats very basic endocrine problems. I know this because the man could not think outside the box. I told him how the other doctor said it may be something more rare and that one of the reasons he sent me to him was because he had better facilities to do testing that he couldn't do in his office. He didn't want to even entertain the idea that it couldn't be the most common solution and pretty much gave up on me halfway through the exam.
Best part was when he questioned me as to why my doctor sent me to him when he thought the other doctor was more educated in this field. Yeah.. that gave me confidence.
I also inquired about possibly switching my thyroid meds from synthetic to natural (Synthroid to Armour) since I obviously am not feeling well on the Synthroid which I have been on since 2004. He quickly told me how he does not prescribe Armour (All I have been reading about Armour over the years is how so many people who didn't feel well on Synthroid felt great on Armour).. Then I noticed the huge Synthroid poster in his office. Ugh.. I hate doctors like him. God forbid you try something different.. something natural.
Ugh.. so whatever.. I have been having one of the worst weeks since I became sick on 2003 and I was kind of hoping this appt today would give me some hope.. But all I thought as I left his office was "I give up" and "this was a waste of time and energy". I was going to post about this before, but Ugh.. I just feel like I'm whining. I have been having the most trouble driving I have ever had. I had to be picked up twice in two days when I drove down the street and couldn't drive back. I also had to go yesterday for an emergency appt with a radioloigst to check for a blood clot in my leg since my leg and foot have been going numb all week.. Good news is it's not DVT.. Bad news is, it's just from the Fibromyalgia.. I guess that's the answer for everything. Whenever my body does something strange, it's always from the Fibro :/
I guess I'll make an appointment with my neurologist now and play the game again of doctor musical chairs. Part of me doesn't want to give up yet, but part of me can't live the rest of my life feeling half dead and knows she DESERVES better treatment than what she's been getting. Part of me wants to keep fighting. Then again part of me never wants to step foot inside of a doctor's office again :P
So yeah.. they said the bloodwork will come back tomorrow, so hopefully this doc will call me soon and tell me where to go from here. Then I fire him and go back to my old endo :)
p.s. I really don't like it when doctors treat me like I am an idiot and I don't know anything. All I have been doing since 2003 is educating myself on all of my conditions. This may sound snotty to say, but sometimes I feel like I know more than the doctors. :P
****
Please give me spoons because I need to save up all of my energies for a very important event this weekend. One of my oldest and dearest friends is getting married on Sunday and I really want to be able to enjoy it.. I want to be awake. I want to dance.. I want to really enjoy this special occasion.. I don't care if I have to sleep for days after to make up for it.. I want to BE THERE. I keep saying how I want to LIVE.. i want my life to be more than doc appts and pain.. I really just want to be able to celebrate with my friend on Sunday and enjoy it. It is SO important to me that I can really be there. I already missed so many other events.. I missed my friend's birthday, her bachelorette party, Yom Kippur dinner at my family friend's house.. I just want to be able to make it to the things I want to make it do and participate in life. I am so sick of missing out.