Breaking in a new doctor - redux

As some of you may (or may not) know, I seem to have a new doctor every week. This past week, I had TWO new doctor visits, and let me tell you, the difference was like night and day.

The first one was on Monday morning with an endocrine surgeon that my nephrologist referred me to. I’ve been fighting a parathyroid issue for almost six months now and I shudder to think what kind of damage it may have done to my system, particularly my kidneys and my bones. The parathyroid glands are the ones that secrete a hormone that regulates the metabolism and uptake of calcium and phosphorous in your body. A hyperactive set of glands means that you have too much calcium in your bloodstream which can have cardiac implications, and not enough in your bones. Hyperparathyroidism can also wreak havoc with your kidneys, particularly when they are already in crisis.

My PTH has been “off the charts” since December. Everyone that sees the results of my blood work ooohs and ahhhs about how high my blood calcium is, but nobody seems to want to do anything about it. Like they think the calcium fairy is just going to swing by on her next trip through the South? I was on the phone one day with my nephrologist and I pitched a hissy fit, as only LadyDoc can do. Well, that lit a fire under her and within a week, I had an appointment with this surgeon.

This doctor, a female, is super efficient, very confident and takes charge without being bossy or overbearing. She talked to me for about half an hour about what is currently going on with me, and my family history. Then she went over the results of my Sestamibi imaging scan that was done last month. That was interesting; I hadn’t seen the results, only heard about them. She put me up on the exam table, and palpated my thyroid area, then had me lay down. She did an ultrasound to see if she could locate exactly which gland(s) are being the little troublemakers. Both the Sestamibi and the ultrasound were inconclusive, which means that most likely, all 4 glands need to come out. In the end, she said “Let’s take those pesky little buggers out. Tuesday the 31st sound good to you?” Yes, as a matter of fact, it does. Finally, someone willing to do something definitive. Like a breath of fresh air.

Appointment #2, Wednesday afternoon. Gastroenterologist. This was for a consultation as a new patient. I expected that this would take a while due to my extremely complex health issues. Guess how long I spent with the doctor? I timed it. Seriously, two and a half minutes. Really. I guess it’s a good thing that the next time he sees me, he’ll be talking to my fine white a$$ while he does a colonoscopy. I was furious, still am. We could have done that on the phone, over the interweb, via web cam. I sure didn’t need to get a cab all the way over there and all the way back, plus his fee, just to spend two minutes with him. I did ask him one question, and his response as he was running out the door was, “that’s not important, we’ll do a couple biopsies”. Maybe it’s not important to him, but it is to me. Heaven forbid that I should have anything serious wrong with my gizzards, because I sure as heck won’t be seeing him about them.

Only three medical appointments this week, and then next week is surgery. I wonder what fun is in store for me now!