a bit wordy lol
ok, so I'm going to tell you guys about my fabulous day.
1st off, I have to tell you a bit about me. for more than 3 years, I've had daily nausea. Started when I was pregnant with DD... which I expected b/c I had 9 months of nausea when I was pregnant with DS. However, unlike DS, when I delivered DD, the nausea continued. Some days it got so bad I'd have to lie on the couch all day, other days it's bearable. A year and a half ago, I started taking Gravol. Basically just to cope & get me through the day. I didn't take away all the nausea, but enough to make it through each day. Maybe after taking it for 6 months, I started having terrible side effects. Dizziness, terrible mood swings and so on. I did some research on the internet and realized that my body had become addicted and so Christmas of 2008 I weaned myself off. At 1st, the nausea came back with a vengeance but then slowly got better. Not completely better, but to the point it's at now. It's constantly there but mild enough that I can sorta ignore it.
I've been looking for answers for a year now. I've seen doctor after doctor after doctor only to be told nothing is wrong & just 'deal with it'. I see an ear specialist for ear problems in my left ear. I've had a couple of surgeries and as a result I have mild vertigo which also contributes to the nausea, but not 100%. That one comes and goes and I can tell the difference.
Last January I went to a walk in clinic... I just wanted a doctor to listen to me. To my amazement, she DID listen to me. only one problem, she's a walk in doctor and doesn't have her own patients. She runs a battery of tests which of course come back all negative and she tells me I have to see my regular doctor because she's just a walk in doc. 3 months ago I saw my regular doctor to ask for a referral to a GI specialist for my IBS (& my Mom has crohns). I had to FIGHT for the referral. I've been nauseous for more than THREE years and he makes me fight for a referral? comon. He even goes so far as to tell me he's sure I'll be fine the next time he sees me (as he says everytime I visit him). I decide that i'm done with it so I pop over to the walk in clinic to get a copy of my test results. The doc happens to be there & I ask if she's accepting patients yet. She says she is and that I have to go through a 'application process through this Health Care Connect' thing. She says she'd be happy to take me on as a patient to get me feeling better. So I take the number home but I sit on it for a while. In order to apply to be her patient, I first have to drop my general doctor. Which would be totally fine if I had a 100% guarantee to get the new doc, but they tell me they can't promise. So I wait. Then beginning of december, I take the plunge. I call, cancel my 'old doc' (he's actually retiring soon anyway) and apply for the new one. When I talk to them they tell me to tall the new doc to let them know I'm requesting. So I do... they make an appt for today... Jan 4th.
FF to today. man, I'm *thrilled* about my day. I'll spare you the who I drove where and when & tell you about the appts I had today.
1st, I met with the 'new' (walk in clinic) doc. She was *fantastic*. She remembered me, remembered stuff about me and was *happy* to see me. She told me she was really happy that I was her patient now and that we would get me better. She was happy that I had the GI specialist appt. Then she set me up for my *annual* appt. my other doc only saw me every 2 years. She's also sending me for my 35 year blood tests (I'm 38, my other doc never said anything about any tests after I turned 35). she also told me we'd be doing paps yearly (my other doc does them every 2nd years). I told her my Mom gets breast cysts, so she said that we'd start mammograms at 40 instead of 50 like my other doc said (even though he knew about my Moms cysts).
OMG, she CARES. she CARES that I feel crappy all the time and she's going to do something about it. She LISTENS to me. she listens about my families illnesses as well. wow. I'm SO excited!
Then, this afternoon, I had the GI specialist appt. At 1st I didn't think it would really be a good appt when I saw the doctor complaining to the nurses about this and that. But when the doctor came in, it was't that same doctor! This one asked me questions, felt my belly, then *explained* my GI system to me. Then he's telling me he's going to send me for a GI scan (you know, drink the stuff, get pictures, drink the stuff, get pictures... for hours lol). Then when that is done, I'm gonna have am endoscopy. Yeah, I'm not thrilled, but I'm finally getting answers!!!
so that's my exciting day
