A Cup of Tea With Me

I wanted to start sharing my health journey with you. One of the best places to start is the reasons why it is so hard for me to go to a Dr, even when I know I need to. I have a very hard time trusting in this area. The next time I hear the words, “I have no earthy idea what is wrong with you.” I am going to break down and cry, right there in the Dr’s office. I will not name Drs, clinics or even cities these Drs are from. No matter how privately you ask me, I will not reveal their names.

When I was 3, yes you read that right 3, years old, I had my tonsils removed.  It was 1973, in a very small town. They did do things like that back then. I was only 3. I do not remember the reasons for it or how sick I was before. I do know that since the age of 12, or for as long as I can remember, I have gotten strep throat at least once a year, with many years getting it as many as 4 times a year.

In 1999, I had the worst headache I had ever experienced. I would not wish that headache on anyone. Not even “the enemy”.  It took the Dr 3 weeks, many tests and lots of missed work, to decide that it was Viral Meningitis. I was in the hospital for 3 days before they did the spinal tap. They had to insert the needle 5 times and wiggle it about to find the fluid they needed. By the time they finally got the fluid (3 weeks sick, 3 days in the hospital) there was no sign of meningitis in my spinal fluid. The dr still kept the diagnosis of meningitis, but due to recent developments in my my health I am not 100% certain that this Dr knew what he was talking about.

Sometimes, I have to go to a local walk-in clinic, because I cannot get into my regular Dr. I had gone several times just to get the diagnosis of “It is just allergies.” Well, the last time I went there was in 2000 (I believe). The Dr looked at my chart. Saw that I was there for a sore throat, and proceeded to lecture me for wasting his time with my allergies. Since I was already there, and had to pay for the visit, he went ahead and checked my throat. I have NEVER seen such a dark skinned man blush so badly. First his face turned about as white as his lab coat, then it turned about as red as a cherry. He apologized to me, started looking in my chart, and told me I had tonsillitis… (see first paragraph). He wanted to know if my chart was correct in that I said I had my tonsils removed in 1973, because they normally do not grow back. When I went to the ENT, he told me that they had left a little “bud” which was very common when removing tonsils with a scalpel.  He performed the removal with laser, and said that he had cauterized the wound so that they should never grow back again.  (By the way, my “tonsils” or the glands close to where they had been were swollen last month)

I get this rash, I have gotten it for 5 years now. It is not always as bad, but I get it every spring. It starts on my finger tips and spreads. It ends up going from my head all the way to my toes. It itches badly. I have seen 4 different Drs for this rash. No one knows what causes it. Coritzone (sp?) cream works sometimes, but not always. Soaking in a warm tub with oatmeal seems to work the best, but I cannot spend 2 weeks out of the year sitting in a tub.  One time when I saw a Dr, they said, “I have been in medicine for over 15 years, and I have NEVER seen anything like this in my life.”

I recently went to a Dr and had some tests ran. On my first visit, they were wonderful. They acted like they believed me and promised me we would find out what was going on, together. (A post with what is going on will be posted later, that is not part of why I do not trust Drs, although it all ties together).  When I went back 2 weeks later, they told me that all my tests came back negative, and basically looked at me like I was crazy. I felt stupid and degraded for even visiting this Dr.

This is just the major ones. There are more.

In all my 37 years of age, I have found 2 Drs I think I can trust. One is my primary Dr. I have been going to her since late 1999. We do not always see eye to eye, and there have been many times she has looked at me, with remorse and told me she cannot figure out what is wrong, but she ALWAYS makes me feel like she cares. She tries to help, and she sends me to specialist. She is great.

The second one, I am not 100% sure, because I have just seen him once. I will tell you, however, that first impressions mean a lot, and I have never, ever, had a Dr explain things to me like he did. I am waiting on test results now, but I feel confident that he will continue on the path of being a great Dr, for me. I just know that he is the Dr that will be able to help me.

I know the Great Physician. I know that prayer can heal. I have been healed through prayer. I also know there are times when we need to go to earthly physicians. They do not take His place. I am thankful that I have found 2 that I can trust. Not as much as I trust Him, but I do trust these two.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 29th, 2007 at 8:29 am and is filed under health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.