I give up!

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-25-2004
I give up!
4
Mon, 12-27-2004 - 8:31pm
I got a call from the insurance company. I cannot see the doctor I requested because he's a PPO only doctor and I have HMO. I could have gone with a doctor from any other HMO from any three cities around me, but the process the worker described seemed terribly overwhelming, and once I did get the second opinion, I'd be back to square one and have to basically start everything all over again. So, I told her to cancel my request for a second opinion. I will see my GP on January 12th and go on from there.
Carole
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2001
In reply to: carolelyons
Mon, 12-27-2004 - 9:59pm
Oh - that just stinks!! I'm so sorry. Just hang in there. I know how frustrating this can all be. Do something nice for yourself to take your mind off all the annoying things!! Hugs, Cathy :)
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-25-2004
In reply to: carolelyons
Tue, 12-28-2004 - 10:16am
Cathy,
I know you've been following me all along (although I don't know HOW you keep up with everyone!), so you know some of the problems I've had with doctors and some of the experiences (symptoms) I've gone through. Still as I read more and more people's posts, I realize how so many of the things I've been experiencing or have experienced could be thyroid related! Like the tongue swelling, the aches and pains in my joints, particularly my fingers and toes. A couple of weeks ago I purchased Mary Shomon's book "The Thyroid Diet" Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss, and found out that one of the things I've been experiencing, plantar fasciitis, can also be related to thyroid problems, and tendonitis, which I have had a problem with in the past! The moodiness, the freezing cold-to-sweating hot feelings...etc... This past year I had a severe case of Superior Limbic Keratoconjunctivitis (SLK of Theodore) and was seen by two ophthamologists who both told me this was a thyroid related condition and should have my thyroid checked (when I asked my, then, doctor to check my blood levels, she said they were "normal" and nothing further was done). When that doctor died in a tragic accident, we had to find another doctor. The first time I went in to see this new doctor (my present doctor) to get acquainted, I showed her the lump in my neck and she, at least, ordered the Ultrasound and RAE (The Radioactive Scan), and sent me to the Endocrinologist. The problem with her is that she's so overbooked that it takes three weeks just to get an appointment with her, and then you sit and wait for two or three hours for your appointment! How can a doctor really be attentive in this kind of setting?
Anyway, I thank you for your constant input. You've been an inspiration. I'm praying that maybe when this goiter is removed, it will put an end to many of my problems. I worry as to how my care is going to be afterwards. You know how we get, we don't want to be a pain, so we don't go to the doctor even when we should. I have so often thought that maybe everything was all in my head, but you and others here have shown me that, no, what I am going through is very real, and I will just HAVE to be that pain if I'm to get the care I need.
Thank you!
Carole
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2001
In reply to: carolelyons
Tue, 12-28-2004 - 10:31am

Hi Carole - I think we all have those moments when we realize how many of our "seperate" conditions are related to our thyroid condition. Just this morning, researching this whole swollen tongue issue, I came across a list of hypo symptoms that just brought tears to my eyes. It's not that I didn't know all the symptoms but to see them listed again made me realize once again what it is that I live with on a day to day basis. And most people that know me, or you, or any one of us, don't have any idea how many things we just "live" with as part of this condition.

I'm convinced that the key to all of this is finding the right doctor no matter what you have to do or how long it takes. We have to have the kind of determination that few other people have to have in finding treatment because few other conditions are so mistreated, undertreated, and misunderstood. So that's first. And that's not easy because by the time most of get to the point of going to the doctor, we have tons of symptoms and feel just awful. But you have to overcome all that and keep searching!!

The second thing once you find your doctor, is to make sure that your TSH level stays between 1.0 and 2.0. Whatever it takes for you personally to feel as few symptoms as possible. I just had my medication increased for a TSH level I would have killed for a year or two ago. LOL!! But I'm not going to settle for less, if I have a doctor that is willing to treat me, and this one, thank God, is willing to do what it takes. I'm convinced, and I have no training or education in this, but I'm convinced that keeping your TSH between that range limits the effects that could happen with hypothyroidism, all the autoimmune conditions that we might get, the ways in which our symptoms effect our other bodily systems, all of it. I don't know if it's true or not, but I think it might be. It's cetainly better that having a TSH reading that is above the normal range of 1.0 and 2.0 but every doctor keeps telling you you're fine when you have a million symptoms!!

So ... that is my rant for the day!! Stay on it! I know it's hard. Perhaps we can get some stories by others on this board who have been persistant and are now seeing and feeling some positive results. I know we've had quite a few "success" stories!! It' kist takes time and persistance. You can do it!! Cathy :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-25-2004
In reply to: carolelyons
Tue, 12-28-2004 - 12:18pm
Hi Cathy,
Unfortunately, with our present insurance, I'm kind of limited in choice of doctors. There's ONE Endocrinologist on our plan. To see any other, it would HAVE to be an HMO doctor, and that doctor can neither treat me or do follow ups, only give me a second opinion. The radiologist who did my Ultrasound said, "Oh, yeah, THAT'S going to have to come out", I'd forgotten those words from her until this past Sunday when I was going through all the (lack of) information I'm getting from the doctors. Another discrepancy is when the nurse who was taking my vitals before I saw the doctor told me that my TSH levels were a little off (I think she said low, but I can't be sure), yet the doctor said my levels all seemed fine. I've experienced that before!
My doctor is an Internist. She is building a new office where she won't have to share an office with another doctor and therefore will be able to see patients all day long instead of half the day. Hopefully, she will no longer be triple booked and it will be a lot easier to get an appointment. I've only seen her twice. I don't have a problem with her, she does seem to be concerned enough to send me for tests, at least. Maybe once the goiter is taken care of, a lot of my symptoms will find their place and I'll begin to feel a little more human. Right now I'm just plain frustrated!
I think I'm going to go back to bed for a while. It's raining & cold here today which doesn't help my down mood.
Thank you very much!
Carole