New General Doctor

My husband calls the College of Physicians  and demands to know why I can't get a new doctor. I had been too many walk-in clinics trying to get a new doctor with no luck.   The College of Physicians were unaware that doctors in our city would not take you as a new patient if you already had a doctor,  once made aware that this was occurring they gave me a list of doctors who are taking new patients and was told any doctor on that list who said the same to me to advise them.  The first two would not, but as luck would have it one of the doctors on the list worked at the same clinic I took my mom to for her doctor and I decided to try my luck with there while I was waiting for her. And as luck would have it when I told him I was no longer satisfied with my current doctor and was looking for a new one, he agreed to take me as a patient....long journey but finally I am getting somewhere, or so I thought.

Very excited my first appointment with a new Doctor.  As with any new relationship I knew I needed  to take this nice and slow but after years of bad experiences with the medical profession, and being turn down as a patient from other doctors, I had high expectations...I hoped he realize what he was in for. 

First things first he wanted to take, a full blood screen of all common blood tests.  Okay I could handle that, he also wanted me to take a glucose test and was very surprised I had never been screened for diabetes especially when I already have many of the factors for Metabolic Syndrome so he was even more puzzled that  this was never looked at.  All test normal (besides high cholesterol which I have been on medication for years) the only other test that came back abnormal the "glucose screen" it came back on the cusp for diabetes. He asked if I would be willing to try and ward it off by exercising more and changing my diet rather than going on medication.  You bet, I explained that I already had a food journal from years of recording which I was to bring to my next appointment. Really no looking at me that I was lying? No accusation of saying I'm not being honest?  A person like you really is keeping a food journal? Self doubt has crept into my conscious long ago.

Next appointment with my journal in hand rather than glancing at it he took a good long look at it and asks if I'm Italian no why?  You love your pasta (which I do) and you really make your own lunches for work?  Yes I do (with a little voice in my head waiting for the comment;  come on you must eat more junk and fast food then you say) well cut out your pasta which quickly converts to sugar, can you also remove bread and cut back on the fruits and juice you digest although it's good for again it converts quickly to sugar.  Make these changes and could you record for me two weeks of blood sugar levels and come back to me.  Um sure but I'm going on a two week cruise you know people don't eat that well on holidays.  Like Santa with a glint in his eye says well I guess this will be a great test for you.  Before I leave I bite the bullet and ask if he can explain why I'm having the muscle spasms .  I also asked why it seemed my left leg was really stiff and I was having trouble bending it lately,  but like always I receive a quizzical look with no explanation when I try and describe them .  He asked that I make an appointment for two days after my return.

 Two weeks later I have returned, my new doctor was very surprised to see my blood sugar stayed almost exactly the same day and night.  He proceeded to tell me to keep up making the changes I am doing and make an appointment in a month. 

This was on Wednesday of returning from my two week holiday.  Sitting at work on Friday late in the afternoon suddenly I felt an incredible pain in my leg, thinking I had just sat too long walk around the office just trying to loosen it up.  By the time I got home that night I could barely walk.  My husband asked if I was okay and I explained to him what was going on.  I tried to ignore it for the rest of the weekend but by the end of day Sunday I could stand it no longer, my husband wanted to take me to the hospital but I said no like always they will make me stay there for hours only to be sent home.  (Over the years I had gone to the hospital many times for spasms with no results so you get to the point of why bother).   I went to bed thinking please stop I need to go to work in the morning.  By the time I woke up the next morning I could not even stand on that leg and finally broke down and allowed my husband to drop me off at the hospital telling him there was no point in him missing work too we already know the outcome I will sit there for hours and then they will send me home with no explanation.

 For once I was wrong I had Deep Vein Thrombosis (DTV) which they believe was from my long plane ride home.  When I finally went back to my doctor he said well we now know what was causing your leg to be stiff. It seemed reasonable explanation to me.  It didn't explain the other spasms but at least I knew why my leg was so stiff.