09 July 2009

What's up, doc?

I saw my PCP (primary care physician) today. As per usual, we spent about an hour together. The first twenty minutes was about her telling me she's leaving for Boston, me crying, her getting sad, us holding hands... Keep in mind that I've seen her every 2-4 months for seven years. And every time between that I got sick. EVERY specialist that I have (and I have eight of them) was recommended by her (okay, except Dr. Second Opinion).

Then down to business. I caught her up on my thyroid mess. And my gallbladder mess. I told her I'm having some problems controlling my asthma, and we discussed adding to my meds, which I'm reluctant to do since I'm already taking asthma meds three times a day.

Her main concern, though, remains my headaches. Rather, my headache. The headache I've had as long as I can remember and quite literally NEVER goes away. Some days are better than others. Some days are really bad. And some days are migraines. Basically, I have three tiers of headaches - Tier 1 (I pop 1.5 grams of acetaminophen and go about my day); Tier 2 (I pop a narcotic painkiller; and Tier 3 (migraine).

Throughout the seven years I've been with her, she's sent me to neurologists, neuro-ophthamologists, and oral maxillofacial specialists. We've tried various medications, combinations of medications, and discontinuing medications (in case it was a side effect from one of the meds I took).

She decided to throw one more thing at me (as she always puts it, which somehow makes me happy). We're trying a new daily med. I'll start with one pill a day and gradually titrate up to as many as eight a day. She also started me on a new migraine med since I told her that my current one sometimes makes me sleepy, which means that I refuse to take it at work.

She wanted to know my thoughts regarding more ideas, but I told her it was fine and that I've learned to live with my head. She reminded me that I need to be more vocal about my pain because since I rarely mention it, she forgets how persistent it is. And that just because I live with it doesn't mean we can't make it better.

Then the regular battery of blood tests was ordered.

In the past four days, I spent: $87.42 at the pharmacy, $20 to see Dr. Second Opinion, and $10 to see the best PCP in the world. Thank God for health care benefits.

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