Part 2

My last bout of Mono was just a few years ago, but after both occasions I never really got back up to what I consider to be full speed for me.  My immediate family and close friends have heard me repeatedly express how I just knew something was not right with me.  This brought on several years of unsuccessful testing and possible diagnosis that later turned out to be wrong.  These test are what actually discovered my second experience of Mono and that I have Pernicious Anemia.  Sounds scary and serious but I found out it just meant I have a severe B12 deficiency and don’t have the ability to obtain it through food or vitamins so I get injections of the thick red goo instead.  A little hard to stomach if you are afraid of needles like I am, but I’m learning to adjust.

After several years of receiving injections that helped some of my problems I realized that I was still battling others and at times they were getting worse than before.  I am the type of person who will push for answers for just about anything and yet I realized I was just sitting by the wayside waiting for my doctor to call me one day with some kind of an answer to solve my problems.  Well that day never came, so I took matters into my own hands and realized I needed to push harder.  I picked up the phone, called my doctor’s office and said “I want to be referred to whatever specialist is willing to find out what the heck is wrong with me so I can get back to living my life.”  Oddly enough, with the doctor’s office that always schedules my appointments weeks down the road, I was suddenly able to get an appointment an hour and a half from the point I muttered those words.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love my current doctor.  He’s done a lot more than others to test and re-test until he could get some answers, but I was just looking for him to do more this time.  I needed an answer and I needed it NOW.  My symptoms were getting worse, I was barely able to get out of bed and I finally had done the ultimate sin in my world and called into work for my shift.  I reluctantly accepted to take the same-day appointment and started the trek over to the coast to visit his office.

I waited almost an hour to actually see my doctor, which is fairly standard in his office, but I was glad that I did.  As usual, he gave me his full attention from the moment he walked in the door.  He was actively asking me questions, studying my past test results and poking at me but at least I felt as if I was being heard about my concerns.  We discussed past problems and past failed diagnosis so as not to repeat trying treatment for any of those again.  Over an hour later we had a possible answer.

To be continued…