Okay - so I disappeared again for a while... The holiday season (I consider that to be Halloween through Valentines Day) has been exhausting.
Today I'm taking some time to catch up on the things that are important to me. (warm & fuzzy, I know)
Anway - I'll jump into things... I'll admit that my MS has progressed some this last year... the relapse I had in June still likes to rear its ugly head & remind me that it's not completely gone & I better get used to it being with me off and on. A few new symptoms are appearing - one that I call my 'brain-pain'... which just means I'm experiencing pain for no apparent reason - and I can't explain it and none of the OTC pain killers have done a thing... thus the name 'brain-pain'... I think it sounds better than just saying it's all in my head...
My medical experiences the last two months have been horrible for some reason... let me share:
I had a MRI mid-December - and was instructed (for the first time ever) to completely disrobe... Are you kidding me?!?!?! It's not my first time at the rodeo - and it was my brain they were taking pictures of. I don't wear bejewelled jeans - or jeans with a million zippers & metal studs. I wore a sports bra - a sweatshirt - jeans - socks & tennis shoes. In all my prior MRIs - I have been asked to remove my shoes - but never been asked to take all my clothes off. When I questioned the technician on this, I was treated so rudely I was stunned. I was tossed a gown & told to change. What choice did I have - I needed to get this completed before my next appointment. I changed as 'ordered' - but refused to remove my bra & put my sweatshirt over their 'gown'. Then while I waited - I heard the technicians talking about "the patient that refuses to change because she thinks she knows more" than they do. Ugh.
Fast forward a few weeks - and its time to meet with a neurologist to review the results & put together an action plan for going forward. My regular neurolgist is out on maternity leave - so I needed to meet with with her colleague. I have *never* in my life experienced such a useless & disappointing medical appointment... if it was any other service - I would have asked for my money back! The doctor came in the room - did a brief exam - told me my MRI had "countless lesions". He asked what medication I was taking - and I told him I wasn't taking anything - because I was waiting for the new oral treatment to become available - which it was at the time of the appointment & I'd like to get started on that as soon as possible. His response - "well, you're a good candidate for that and I'm signed up to perscribe it, but I don't want a patient sitting around in my office for 6 hours for observation and that is what is required for that medication... just come back as soon as your regular doctor is back - she'll be back the first of February." With that - he left the room. Less than 5 minutes of face time - and not once did this doctor even look me in the eye when he spoke with me. I wanted to shout at him "Am I wasting your time? What kind of doctor are you?"
So - here I sit - and wait - for my doctor to come back from maternity leave. Still on no meds - still in pain. Completely disappointed that there are doctors out there that make the money they do while being completely useless to the patient sitting in front of them.
