You know that saying, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”? We’ll I could eat a bushel of apples daily and I would still need close to a dozen doctors to help me sort out the messy piles that makes up my health. There is the endocrinologist, the neurologist, the rheumatologist, the gastroenterologist, and on and on (and on some more). I’m averaging about two a week for the foreseeable future (more if you factor in the emergency appointments to urgent care).

Last week I had one of the bad doctors visits. If your are chronically ill you’ll likely have your own trove of stories that ended with you experiencing a range of negative emotions. It’s part of the chronically pain package.

This is not a a visit where we were expecting bad news, instead this came from a doctor that I truly trust and depend on but unfortunately what she had to say wasn’t good. She was out of answers and at a loss for how to help me. My health advocate (i.e. mom), who accompanies me on days when the brain fog blankets my thoughts and makes coherence virtually impossible, asked the doctor for help controlling my daily pain. Let’s just say the conversation did not go well, and both my mother and I were in tears at times while the three of us talked.

Here’s the difference, she looked me straight in the eye and told me she would keep on working. That there had to be answers and that we would find ways to help me have a better life. She laid out a list of other doctors she would speak to and areas where she would do more research and the testing and adjusting we would do in the meantime.

So, no, this is not the best news, but at least it wasn’t the dreaded “doctor dump.” Where we move from here is anyone’s guess, but at least there is a plan to keep moving.

To be continued….