June 26, 2012

• Red Team GO!

  So, yeah… I finally got a new doctor and treatment team!! I had my appointment with my new doctor today. Let’s just say that I have a feeling I’m finally being heard!! And, yes, it is just the first visit, but the lady knows her stuff. You can tell that she not only cares about the job, she cares about the patient…

  Dr. Teri wants to experiment a little with my meds and get me off the codeine. And to try a different combination of meds to help level things out. She is very knowledgeable about medications, the good and the bad. The thing that I really like about her? SHE UNDERSTANDS WHAT SCOLIOSIS IS!!! As I kept talking about my fun foray into medicine and what works, what doesn’t, she listened. Then when she asked about the bone scan and I relayed what I was told. But, she was looking at me the whole time! The only time she looked at her computer and my files was after we talked about changing the meds up. (And my lab work; I’m still too chicken to look at the results. That’s for another day…) And when I told her that the orthopeadic from KU Med had said about needing more core stability, she was like, “But you do Pilates and Yoga; how much more stability can you get?” Loved it!

  But now on to the best part of today’s appointment: SHE UNDERSTANDS WHAT SCOLIOSIS IS!!! You have no idea how comforting that is! After 9.5 years of getting so many docs that “oh, it’s just an abnormal curvature of the spine,” I have a doc that knows because one of her nephews has it! (Poor thing experienced one of the worst side effects: his torso was turned severely and it started to crush his lungs and a few other organs… She commented that docs don’t like to operate on patients due to the high risk involved and the complications of trying to set the spine. I knew that, but it was a little a comforting to know that she understands my frustrations…) The doc wanted to iterate that I would have back problems all my life, that there will never be a conclusive diagnosis as to what’s wrong. (That part is a little upsetting, but it is my reality, unfortunately.) And since she knows a bit about the course Scoliosis can take on the body, she wants me to get on a lower medication regime so the meds don’t start taking a bad turn on me. Especially with the knowledge of knowing this is a lifelong issue…

  I don’t even know if I can convey how happy I am that I have a doctor that listens to me, not just shoving their own rhetoric down my throat. Dr. Teri has given me a little hope that I may finally get where I want to be in my back care. It’s such an awesome bonus that she understands Scoliosis and the effects on the body. I feel I can actually breathe for once, that I’m where I need to be finally. It’s very liberating!

  Well, since I’m having a few issues thinking clearly tonight because of the high (and meds), I shall let you go. I probably have a half dozen and more grammatical mistakes, but I’m in a euphoria, so it’ll go to the wayside for the moment. Maybe one day I’ll go back through and properly edit… (And with me having some OCD tendencies, it could happen…)

  Until next time… CIAO!!

   

  • 11:14 pm
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