The thought of doctor shopping intimidates me, so I decided I would give my current doctor-group one last try. Not the one I've been seeing, but the one last person there who hasn't given be bad advice or f*cked me over in the past. His name is Seth, and in the past he's been pretty good. He's not actually a doctor - he's a FNP, nurse practitioner? He can order X-rays and prescribe medications. He's the one who, after about four months of going to different doctors and being told that nothing was wrong with me (I was really drained and had a hacking cough that wouldn't go away) by several different docs in the office, diagnosed me with pneumonia. I didn't have a lot of the typical signs and the other guys hadn't been listening to me (seems to be something I have problems with....).
So anyway, I was sitting there on Friday at work, feeling like crap, thinking how ridiculous it was that I had to go to a cardiologist for a tilt table test when I don't have any problems with my heart and I thought, "Maybe Seth will listen...". So I called up the office and asked if he had any appointments. And he did! So off I went.
The nurse who lead me back is usually snarky but she was friendly; that was a really nice start. I've lost another couple of pounds, and I'm down one of the 50 pound sections on the doctor's scale - that was great. I'm not losing huge chunks at a time anymore and losing at a more even keel. I'm still losing from being sick (believe me......I'm on a kick of eating cookies!) but it's not as huge so I'm not as freaked out by it. Anyway. The visit was off to a good start.
When Seth came in I him, "I want you to know that you're my Obi-wan Kanobe" and he laughed and said, "I'm your only hope?" I told him what's been going on. Everything. How I got sick, starting with the stuff several years ago and how it built up (Reader's Digest version) and how I've had problems with the other doctors and staff in the office. Remaining professional, and not saying anything against anyone he works with, I got the feeling that he wasn't surprised at anything I said. I might be wrong. I don't know if it matters. He spent about an hour, aside from the time that I spent telling him what had been going on. We went over what the OHSU specialists had recommended, reviewed my meds and made some adjustments. He's going to contact OHSU and get the tilt table test set up there - he agrees that there's no need for me to go a cardiologist and have a full work up there when OHSU can do the test right there. (yeah! 4-hour new patient test and $50 co-pay saved!) Plus with the changes in meds, it will probably save me about $100 a month in Rx co-pays, $75 on one prescription alone.
He spent a lot of time asking me different questions that no one has asked before. Some things that my friends and I had discussed, some things that I've read in articles, but stuff that isn't main stream. Which is why I like him. He wants me to get tested for Lyme's disease. He recommended having a naturopath do the testing because they do more extensive testing (I LOVE Portland!). I forgot to call my insurance to find one that's covered. **note to self...call insurance on Monday** (why is it that cartoons seem so much louder at 1AM than during the day?) He specifically asked about any odd bites in the last year to two years, and I've been eaten alive over the last two years with several bites being out of the norm that didn't seem like either mosquito or spider bites. He said that if it IS Lyme's, I probably will still have the other conditions and those won't go away and may not get any better but the Lyme's needs to be treated, and the Lyme's might have triggered the other conditions.
That's my good doctor news. It's quite exciting for me.
I stayed home a couple of days last week, Monday and Tuesday. Migraines were out of control again and I was out of pills. Two months since went back to work without any time off....I'd hoped to be able to keep working. I have Monday off, then some time in November (a week and a half) and a day in December. I'm hoping the staggered extra days off will work to keep me rested enough to not have to call out sick. All in all I feel pretty much back to about where I was before I went out for disability. The differences are that I kind of know what's going on know, and I'm not as fully totally exhausted. On weekends, like today, I pretty much can plan on sleeping until noon (which I SHOULD NOT DO) or if I don't sleep until noon I'm a couch potato until noon. I don't do anything productive on Saturdays, couldn't if I wanted to. Sundays around noon I have a "holy CRAP I have to get this place clean!" moment and I try to do what I can. That usually entails basic bathroom wipedown (it's sanitary), clean kitchen counters & stove top, change bed sheets and try to tidy up some. The tidying up is really slacking off. The last three loads of laundry haven't gotten folded and put away. The work clothes get hung up when they come out of the dryer - the rest are in the chair right over there by the TV. *sigh* One of my friends said, "It's just you so it doesn't matter." but it DOES. I want my house clean and tidy. I don't want to look at piles of laundry, or have my counter/island cluttered up. It WAS cleared off. Granted, there's only a few things on it and it's not junk. But I can't keep up with it the way I want to, and the way I feel that I should. Oh, and dusting does NOT happen.
I'm having problems with proteins. What the heck? Where did that come from? I need to figure this one out....the "easy quick" stuff isn't good for the migraines, and the fresh stuff isn't sitting well with my tummy. Brook suggest tofu. Reminds me of chewing erasers.....
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