Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Okay. New doctor it is.

I was willing to listen.  I was willing to give a fair second chance to the endocrinology practice that had already blew it once.*

Yeah, no.

I had the appointment last week.  Last Wednesday.  The doctor, a man from India, decided that I was no more than a half-wit, and treated me as such.**  Implied that I didn't take my meds often.  Told me that I needed to do the things I was already doing, and told me to do them after I'd told him that they were things I already did.  As if I were lying to him.  I asked him to check my T3 to make sure I was metabolizing the levothyroxine properly, and he refused, and told me that I'd metabolize the T4 (levothyroxine) into the amount of T3 I needed, if I just took the medicine properly. 

I don't miss doses.  I've done that once, since I did it on doctors' orders.  Never again.  I'm more likely to double up now, than to miss a dose.  I'm pretty sure I'd doubled up the day of the visit, and told him that before he sent me down to get blood work done.

Today, he had his nurse call and tell me to take half a dose one day a week.

Really. 

Really?

Really.

I double dosed the day he told me to get my blood levels checked.  And it was a little high but not much.  And he wants me to do a half dose one day a week. 

I can either choose to comply, in the hopes that maybe he'll listen to me, or I can refuse to comply and ask for a new doctor. 

So.  If I choose to comply, which day should I choose to be a non-function halfwit, rather than a half-functioning person who can think almost well enough to do her job?  Because that is the choice I'm facing.

Yeah, I don't think so.  I'm just trying to decide whether to find a new GP or give the endocrinology practice a third chance by asking for a different doctor.




*When I fell pregnant with the pixie, the blood tests were so low in thyroid hormone that they sent me back three times to run the test again, then tried to get me an appointment with the only endocrinology practice in the area.  They said they wouldn't see me until late November (it was early May).  The pixie was due in January, and born in December.  I did research and found that waiting would have been heavily detrimental to her development, and had the labs sent to my GP.  She put me on a low dose that was adequate to save the pixie a painful childhood, at the very least.  

**I've had male doctors from India before.  Without exception, they have treated me this way.  I don't know if it's because that's just the way they are, or if it's institutionalized sexism, but it's unacceptable either way. 

8 comments:

  1. Good morning HH, I just happened across this story last week. Maybe it will help you.

    http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-i-recovered-from-hypothyroidism-and-became-my-own-best-advocate/

    Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've got the diagnosis. I actually had my thyroid removed in May because it was choking me, and because I have a family history of thyroid cancer (mine wasn't, just big with nodules pinching my throat).

      I'm just having issues finding a doctor that's willing to do the tests I know I need.

      Delete
    2. Hopefully you will be able to get the right Dr. to help you. I know since the passage of the ACA ( not affordable and not care) the whole industry sucks. Good luck HH.

      Delete
    3. We've got a lot of really great docs in the area. Often, the problem is the support staff...

      ...or cases like the above, where the asshole "I know all and you know nothing" doctors are made worse by a terrible support staff.

      Delete
  2. I'd be changing docs... If he doesn't believe you now... Just sayin...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fire that SOB and get a new one....stat!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have an appointment with a new internist coming up. I will not be going back to the idiot as I've realized that raising my TSH will cause a flare-up of the Hashimoto's, without a thyroid gland for it to attack.

      Delete

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