This should be my first aniversary of having fibromyalgia!!! (if i remember correctly).
Here is how it came about.....
A year ago, we (hubby and I) flew ALLLLL the way to Bangkok, to get a second opinion.
We could no longer afford to see another rheumatologist, endocrinologist etc etc, so we went all the way for it.
Actually I was badly in need of cheap massages. I could not afford the massages in my country.
I was aching all over, stiff all over every morning. It took HUGE efforts to pull myself out of bed, book a cab, get into the cab, and walk from the cab to the lift. At times, I would call my kind boss, and told him, there is no way I can come in straightaway, if there are no urgent meetings, please let me detour to my massuer and get an hour of massages to free up the stiffness and soem of the pains.
I felt well after massages, and Thai massages and Tui Na which worked on acupoints worked best for me. I decided to take leave and have a whole week of Thai massages! It would come up to be cheaper to fly to BKK to have it at the Wat Po or other shops there (only 200-400B /hour!!) , and have a "rest", since massages are so expensive.
I went there as I knew the massages were cheap and good, and hoped that it would help. As one of my professors told me how impressed he was with the private medical sector there- so cheap and so good, I felt I just had to give it a try. I thought that there was no harm trying, since the rheumatologist and doctors I had been seeing did not help much and did not know what was wrong with me.
I booked an appointment through the internet. Chose a rheumatologist who just had training in Mayo Clinic and worked with young women with automimmune disease (I did not want another rheumy who deals mainly with elderly!!!), cos I knew I have something more than RA.
Oh my God. My husband was shocked. She spent more than 2 hours checking me and talking to us that day!!! (In between, I saw her making phone calls and checking pubmed, haha. She was doing her best!!). What I usually get is 10 minutes from my doctors.
After seeing me, she sent me for blood tests, and sent me to see an endocrinologist(Boston trained), and another gastroenterologist. We were worried with the bills but went ahead.
After everything had been eliminated and testing me for my tender points, she told me that she "suspected" it. She could not confirm on the spot, but she wrote back to my regular rheumy about it.
That was how I got a "suspected" fibro....
Was it a terrible blow? Yes, it was. I wished I had cancer instead at that time.
Was it a relief? Sort of. Having another medical professional agreeing with my own suspicion means that I could direct more energy to understanding and coping with it. I also felt more equiped to deal with the pressure of people suspecting that I was depressed or having mental illness.
No comments:
Post a Comment