Posted by TherapyGirl on February 25, 2009, at 17:27:07
I am still horribly depressed, but wanted to share with all of you who have done such a fabulous job of supporting me that I had my gyn. appt. this morning and it could not have gone better (or been a more different experience from recent experiences with endo-from-h*ll).
This woman is actually a nurse practitioner but her degree is partially in endocrinology and she is gifted at the hormone thing. She is taking a broader view to everything she is seeing and hearing from me.
The first thing was that instead of having me fill out a form or go through a checklist medical history with the nurse, they had me just talk to her and answer questions. Then she READ IT BACK TO ME TO MAKE SURE IT WAS CORRECT.
Then I went in to see the NP. I had copies of my endo. records (with my corrections), my surgical records and all of my thyroid lab work from the last four years. I gave her that, along with a list of current symptoms that I've been tracking. She briefly looked at it, asked me if she could keep it and I told her they were copies I made for her, at which point she closed the folder and looked at me and said, "I appreciate that and it will be helpful later. Right now I want to hear in your own words what's going on."
It was unbelievable. We talked for 45 minutes. 45 minutes! She was kind, compassionate, smart, concerned and without ever having met me before she was sure that this is not who I am. How very different from the endo.
We are checking ALL of my hormone levels and I should have the test results tomorrow, Friday at the latest. She told me if I hadn't heard from them by Friday morning to call her around 11. She came up with a tentative treatment plan and has a backup plan, depending on what the test results are. She does NOT think I should have to continue to deal with these symptoms by myself and by self-medicating. I was brutally honest about all the things I've been using to hang by a thread (food, cigarettes, alcohol, exercise as my joints will allow, every prescription I have available to me, etc.). She wants to manage the symptoms enough for me to be able to use just the healthier tools. What a novel approach.
I'll keep you posted on how I do. It's still hard to imagine what will be left of me, but at least someone besides you and my T wants to help me.
poster:TherapyGirl
thread:882478
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20090214/msgs/882478.html