I'm Going on Strike

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I’ve decided I need a break. I’m going on strike.  I can only take so much and then I need to have some space and time of my own. I am tired of going from one appointment to another, draining the last bit of energy I have left in me.  I used to love having busy days at work and dashing from one interesting meeting to another, and I probably would still love that.  What I am talking about, however, is something very different and much more tiring.  I am talking about a three-week stretch during which I have at least one doctor’s appointment, sometimes two, every day. And the next two weeks look the same.   I’ve had it. Cancel them all!  Well, okay, cancel some of them.

I’ve written before about what it is like to have multiple chronic conditions and how you have to see so many specialists in order to manage all the symptoms, but in addition to those conditions that have been diagnosed and need to be followed, I have some symptoms that are not from those conditions so I have to see new doctors in a search for a diagnosis and if possible a cure, if not a treatment.  I’ve been dealing with the persistent cough, shortness of breath, high blood pressure for years and still no diagnosis. And none of the medications or treatments the doctors prescribed have been any help.  I also have been told that the discoloration and pain in my lower legs is from chronic cellulites, which is a result of an infection I got when a rod was implanted in my right leg after a serious fracture of my tyb/fib in which the bone came right through the skin.  My legs keep getting worse, however, and now it seems it might be something all together different so guess what; more tests need to be taken.

In the past two weeks I had 11 doctor or medical test appointments scheduled and like a good little girl I went to them, until yesterday.  Yesterday, after my second appointment where I was having the veins in my legs mapped, I cried Uncle.  Anyone with older siblings knows that when you cry Uncle they have to stop beating you up or tickling you or doing anything else that annoys you terribly.  Well I cried Uncle over going to doctors.  I cancelled two that I was scheduled for today and one for tomorrow, although I agreed to come back for the vein mapping of my other leg.  I might as well since I already had one done that showed there was a problem and before I could begin any treatment I would need to know the status in the other leg.

Have you ever gotten to the point where you need time away from medical professionals? In 2001-2002, I broke 5 bones and had 8 surgeries in 13 months.  I was in the hospital 10 times during that time, twice to fight the infection in my right leg, and the longest stay was for six weeks, including physical rehabilitation.  I honestly don’t know how I got through that time in my life, even when I was home there were nurses aides, public health nurses, physical therapists and occupational therapists coming on almost a daily basis.  I never got away from the medical world.