Of ERs and Kidney Infections: Leading Up
There are some smart things, and some not so smart things, I did leading up to Thursday night.
Smart: Commenting on how I was feeling in my facebook posts. This meant I could go back a week and see just when the discomfort on my left side began.
Not So Smart: Ignoring the pain or treating it just with advil. Also treating the weekly UTIs I've been having for the last few months with home remedies (that actually work for mild UTIs) instead of seeing a doctor about them.
The reason for that one... well, I guess it's kind of silly. But, I'm already seeing doctors for so many things -- sleep apnea, pcos, bizarre menstruation -- that I felt kind of bad bringing up one more thing. I felt like I'd be toppling over the boundary that separates OCD from hypochondria. Contrary to popular perception, I'm not actually a hypchondriac. I am obsessive compulsive and I do have some larger ticket health items (as I said, sleep apnea, pcos, and bizarre menses - all of which can be tested and documented). I do not, however, tend to ascribe random illnesses to myself at the drop of the hat.
Smart: Documenting health problems. Keeping a spreadsheet of medical tests. Keeping a chronologically organized binder of medical tests.
I began doing this because I started to get overwhelmed with how many different medical problems I seemed to have. Also... that fear of being labeled a hypochondriac. I've had that happen to me before and actually prevent me from getting the care I needed (I still feel vindicated by the ENT who told me I should have had my tonsils out 8 years earlier, and by the results from my sleep study indicating sleep apnea - just depressed, my ass!)
So, I reasoned, while doctors can discount or ignore a patient's complaints (although they shouldn't) they can't ignore data. Saying I have irregular periods, while true, is nowhere near as convincing as showing a doctor calendars for the last two years with the days of every period highlighted in pink. I've learned I can just hand the doctor that, and they will immediately start writing up lab tests I need to take. And they will not doubt for one moment that there is a serious problem. By shifting the communication from an emotional one to a factual one, I've gotten doctors to take me a great deal more seriously.
Funny how my fear of being discounted lead both to some pretty clever behaviors and some pretty stupid ones.
And now my brain is going foggy from the vicodin, so I'm going to have to cut this post short. More later, as I'm thinking this stuff through.
Smart: Commenting on how I was feeling in my facebook posts. This meant I could go back a week and see just when the discomfort on my left side began.
Not So Smart: Ignoring the pain or treating it just with advil. Also treating the weekly UTIs I've been having for the last few months with home remedies (that actually work for mild UTIs) instead of seeing a doctor about them.
The reason for that one... well, I guess it's kind of silly. But, I'm already seeing doctors for so many things -- sleep apnea, pcos, bizarre menstruation -- that I felt kind of bad bringing up one more thing. I felt like I'd be toppling over the boundary that separates OCD from hypochondria. Contrary to popular perception, I'm not actually a hypchondriac. I am obsessive compulsive and I do have some larger ticket health items (as I said, sleep apnea, pcos, and bizarre menses - all of which can be tested and documented). I do not, however, tend to ascribe random illnesses to myself at the drop of the hat.
Smart: Documenting health problems. Keeping a spreadsheet of medical tests. Keeping a chronologically organized binder of medical tests.
I began doing this because I started to get overwhelmed with how many different medical problems I seemed to have. Also... that fear of being labeled a hypochondriac. I've had that happen to me before and actually prevent me from getting the care I needed (I still feel vindicated by the ENT who told me I should have had my tonsils out 8 years earlier, and by the results from my sleep study indicating sleep apnea - just depressed, my ass!)
So, I reasoned, while doctors can discount or ignore a patient's complaints (although they shouldn't) they can't ignore data. Saying I have irregular periods, while true, is nowhere near as convincing as showing a doctor calendars for the last two years with the days of every period highlighted in pink. I've learned I can just hand the doctor that, and they will immediately start writing up lab tests I need to take. And they will not doubt for one moment that there is a serious problem. By shifting the communication from an emotional one to a factual one, I've gotten doctors to take me a great deal more seriously.
Funny how my fear of being discounted lead both to some pretty clever behaviors and some pretty stupid ones.
And now my brain is going foggy from the vicodin, so I'm going to have to cut this post short. More later, as I'm thinking this stuff through.