Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Surprise Doc!

June 15, 2010
My favorite doctor is one I have had for 11 years. I dreaded telling him about having the procedure. His opinon is important to me and I was reticent to approach him about the procedure for fear of censure. I had brought the subject of CCSVI to his attention on a regular visit, two visits, actually. He listened with a polite amount of interest, but I couldn't get the right words from my brain to my mouth and reveal my plans.

I am not a well organized crusader and am a bit sensitive to rejection. I'm very well acquainted with virtual head butting. Anonymity is one of the perks of blogging or posting on websites.I am not clever enough to change my identity and make a brand new me, though it could be tempting! The negative side is that we don't have a clue about the honesty and integrity of the new 'friends' in our chosen social network. I don't mind being raspberried online nearly as much as I do in person.

I'm not quite sure what I expected, but his reaction was priceless. He watched me march into the outer office, as I pretended not to notice. Him and his office manager were talking together so I went into the waiting room. There was another person ahead of me, and no time for conversation. I caught the very puzzled look on his face as he disappeared into the other room.

Rick sat next to me and picked up a magazine while I turned up the volume on my ipod to distract me from the panic I began to feel. Soon he came out, and motioned me to follow him. Rick decided to sit this one out. If I'm going to get my butt chewed, I prefer it not be with my husband to witness it. Dr. ___said" Wow, look at you walking!" Nothing gets by him.... He looked at Rick and repeated, "Look at her walking!?" I couldn't hold my poker face any longer, I broke out in a huge smile and told him I had something to discuss with him. Once my mouth opened, it didn't shut up for ten full minutes. He had a total holy crap look on his face the entire time. In between breaths he asked questions and talked to me about the details of my whole experience. He noted the equal strength of my right and left sides. He kept staring at me as he watched my eyes track in concert with each other. I saw his eyes follow mine and I calmed down enough to let him talk.
He couldn't have been more surprised if I stapled his head to the floor. (favorite quote). As I explained as much as I knew about CCSVI, the procedure and the aftermath of my own surgery. His questions became technical and neither of us expected the accuracy of my medical terminology. He said," this is the first time I can  see what you must have been in your youth, after 11 years of this mess we had to deal with.You look wonderful! This is hard to believe!" *insert one very cheesy grin*
I told him about all of the medication I had discontinued and he kept smiling. He didn't say one negative thing about doing that without his knowledge. He has always shown his disapproval of any tampering I do with my meds. but insisted that I stick with a couple that I had planned to use anyway and told me to keep the rest on hand. He warned me not to overdo it, as usual. I expressed my worries about a placebo effect. He said, "This is not in the category of a placebo effect and that if it is, so what? It works!"
This is another exciting day for me and Rick. The doctor even came out in the waiting room to congratulate Rick and told him how excited he was about my recovery. He asked for the name of the interventional radiologist who I first consulted.(for another of his patients!  : ) He knows me very well, and that I am not given to fancy.

A great burden has been lifted off my shoulders. After so many negative responses from doctors, I never thought one of my own would be so supportive and offering approval so quickly.
He has a list of web links to study and doctors to communicate with about everything. I wonder if I  had approached him sooner if he would have backed me up before seeing the reality standing in front of him? Who knows? For me, it no longer matters. Now I feel vindicated and clear about my future plans.
The icing on the cake was that he  walked with Rick and I to see Marilyn's reaction at the front desk.  I must have been a  depressing patient in the past because I have never seen him smile for so long. Good day, grandfather.

Linda

9 comments:

Kathleen said...

LoVe it!

Anonymous said...

Great story, I hope to have the same story to tell soon! God bless you! xo

Shara Grice said...

The "proof" is in the pudding! Way to go Miss Linda!!! You must be struting now instead of just walking! Lol. :)

Anonymous said...

congrats Linda! I miss my old GP a lot and would love to have a similar conversation with him. I'm worried about my first neuro apt. a bit. She's at least interested in CCSVI and says the same thing about placebo. Guess I won't know until I get home ;)

Anonymous said...

this is great i also talked to my family doctor she is all for me having the treatment she is working with the doctor who is going to do it. all she had to say is Laura you got bigger balls then me.. she did all the the testing i need. did a check up to make sure i would be able to handle it and now i have my treatment on june 25 some doctors are really out there that still wanta help then their are the ones that only see $$$$$

Anonymous said...

Awesome Awesome Awesome !
Good for you and congratulations.

Anonymous said...

Amazing - what further proof is needed!the establishment has to listen

Unknown said...

FANTASTIC. THEY ARE ALL NOT BAD. THE GOOD ONES KNOW AND BELIEVE AND WANT TO HELP

Unknown said...

There is the smell of money in the water, and the sharks are circling for a feeding frenzy. Be careful of shop a docs, although I'n not aware of any. I am aware that the temptation to take advantage of the demand for the procedure is making the 'suppliers' raise the price of this easy surgery.