I walk into what feels like the millionth doctor’s appointment. I wait for the doctor to yet again start explaining the symptoms I’ve been dealing with for weeks to months now. So far it’s been the same story of passing me off to another specialist or just flat-out doing nothing. This waiting… it really kills. I know something’s wrong, but it’s being dismissed, and without having a label for what is going on, it feels like there’s no way to treat it.
I have often heard in different doctor’s appointments that the best way to treat an illness is to label it. I feel like I’m stuck in limbo. I have no diagnosis, yet it doesn’t seem like any doctor wants to actually do the work to get that diagnosis. I’ve had throw-away diagnoses like the catch-all ones over the years.
I couldn’t believe what a weight was lifted when I finally got a doctor who actually listened to me. He took the time to not only listen, but also was just straight-forward with me and said, “There could be something wrong, there would be nothing wrong, but I’m going to do everything I can to make sure we’re not missing anything that I could potentially treat.” He sent me for tons of bloodwork. I remember thinking at the time that this would either be pointless, or there would finally be answers.
The bloodwork took a while to get back, but I was finally diagnosed. I couldn’t believe the difference it made to have that label. I thought I had finally gotten over needing a label to get better and feel better. That label and hearing the doctor say there were potential treatments was like, omg, why haven’t I seen you sooner?
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