Re: Survey/questions


Livy wrote:

The boobs got him - definitely girly. I told him that means he wasn't
breast fed as a baby. To which he asked if he could catch up.

LOL Believe it or not, when I told my psychologist that I had to have
surgery on my boob, he said later, "Now don't you worry about your
*titty* one little bit, Jane." TITTY!! I know boob isn't proper
medical terminology, but it's a heck of a lot better than Titty, don't
you think? LOL I think he was very uncomfortable talking about my
breasts, PERIOD.

Dr. Doogie is a spine surgeon even tho his title includes diseases of
the spine. Most of my doctors over the years (in NC) have been
reluctant to get into anything that might upset their office visit time
limit. The last family doctor I had would only see me to check my meds
- anything else required the pain clinic, a podiatrist or an OB/GYN. I
did explain to her that she has to include a diagnosis with a referral,
not "Livvy's thingie hurts".

The Pain Clinic would be my most likely choice for help. Either that
or a Rheumatologist. I got my most help from a Pain Clinic, because
the doctor had Fibromyalgia too. It was a GREAT place, with dim
lighting and a really quiet setting - very UN doctor's office-like.
Her kick was food. She made me chart everyting I ate and drank for 10
days before each visit, and then we'd go over what I'd been eating and
how it affects me. She believed people with fibro are basically
starving themselves (apparently many of her patients were eating under
1000 calories a day) and don't have enough food energy to survive on.
You know that saying, "You lose 100 calories walking a mile"? Well,
she switched it around and said, "You need 100 calories to have the
energy to walk a mile." If you're barely getting enough for your body
to SURVIVE on, there's not enough left over to have "energy to burn",
so to speak. She was particularly keen on us getting more HIGH protein
foods and very little "empty" carbohydrates - dense carbs only. A
'Zone' diet, basically.

I can't imagine these young women going through med school for all that
time and NOT wanting to go further than Rxing when someone like me
comes around.

Hard cases are scary sometimes. They have to deal with their licensing
boards and all that crap too and some are scared to stick their toes in
the water, go out on a limb and try new ideas or whatever. A lot of
docs won't prescribe narcotics, many won't fill out forms for
disability or whatever - they're covering their own asses. And
Fibro's such a hard thing to pin down that I think some docs are still
sceptical. There's no blood tests or anything right now.
Arrrrhhhhhhhhh!!! When will they learn to READ the latest scientific
info on it, I wonder?

Do you think giving him a chart and a diary will give me credibility?
I've done the list thing and they always tell me they'll treat me for
ONE symptom so pick the worst. I always feel like I'm the biggest
hypochondriac in the world (next to my mother in law) when I go in.

That's cuz they just hear you bringing in a grocery list of complaints
with no correlation between them. Sometimes it's up to US in this day
and age to correlate what MIGHT be wrong with us, based on observation
of our own bodies and reading as much as we can - and then tell them
your symptoms in a calm, organized way and ask them GOOD questions. We
have to do some of the work for them, and in order to do that we have
to learn about our bodies. My list of pains makes me sound like a hypo
too, and that's not the half of it. But when I see the doc I don't
list off all those pains that way. I call it "overall migrating pain in
all four quadrants". If there is a specific spot that hurts more than
usual, or differently than it did, I tell them that seperately.

My hubby charted my seizures and even figured out the most likely time
of day. My doc really appreciated it when he said - On March 4th, she
had a partial seizure with semi-conscious babbling. On March 10th, she
had a full seizure in her sleep . . . and so on. It helped him decide
how to change my meds and I'm doing WAY better now.

That's such a great idea and your hubby is a doll for doing that.

It's a *necessary* thing. I can't do it myself cuz I get too scattered
when they happen, and if I just say, "Well, I think I had about six
seizures this month," or something like that, they ask me too many
questions and it makes my head hurt. "What KIND of seizures? Were you
conscious the whole time? How did you feel afterward? What time of
day did they occur?" and so on and so on. It's easier to keep track as
they happen. I'm proud to say there are only three big red S's on the
calendar in the last two weeks since I saw him last. (I have to see my
doc every two weeks right now.)

I
think I do that subconsciously, trying to figure out why some days my
left leg doesn't work and other days it's great. Is my moon in Puerto
Rico or something? I will do that! I'm big on statistical analysis
anyway.

Even if you don't get Statistical about it and just try to take more
note of what's *actually* happening in your body, it'll help. It might
show you that every time you eat ______ you get horrible stomach
cramps. Ah So - don't eat that anymore! LOL

Anyway - what's so GIRLY about me? The fact that I'm a GIRL? Okay, I
admit it. Ya caught me. I *am* a girl. So there. <g>

Dr. Tick is European and any female without hairy armpits is girly.

Depends if I have to expose my armpits or not. LOL Same with legs. I
get pretty hairy in the winter. ROFL

He's decided to get out of this FIBROID business and go back to picking
at deer hair. (his PHD is in vet. medicine).

Did you say FIBROID business? You *do* know that Fibroids and
Fibromyalgia have nothing to do with each other, right? The root word
'Fibro' comes from the Latin and simply means 'Fibrous Tissue' and the
Greek terms 'Myo' (meaning Muscle) and 'Algia' (meaning Pain). They
put these terms together to try to give a name to the mysterious set of
symptoms in this syndrome. But it's no more similar to *Fibro*ids than
it is to *Fibro*cystic Breast Condition or Cystic *Fibro*sis.
Fibromyalgia affects the fibrous connective tissue that attaches to the
muscles, and it causes pain - ergo the term Fibromyalgia. I personally
prefer the term Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, which many Europeans use,
but it has too many letters. ;o)

Or were you just refering to us PWFMS in general when you used the word
Fibroids? If so, we usually use the terms Fibromites, FMers, PWFMS
(people with . . .) and FMily. And Fibrotographers. LOL No, just
kidding. Fibrophiliacs. <g>

I agree with Rosie and Nancy that you should read Devin Starlanyl's
site to learn about the 18 Tender Points - what Tender Points and
Trigger Points are and the difference between Fibromyalgia and
Myofascial Pain Syndrome. And I found a simple website that explains
why Fibro is NOT arthritis, and that has click-on links to Ankylosing
Spondylitis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and many others.

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=3453


I enjoy being a girl, personally. It's that multi-tasking ability that
men don't have and we're FAR smarter.

Well, I won't argue with you on that one, though I do know many VERY
smart men. :o) In a way, I think this is hard-wired from our
ancestors - women were multi-taskers who gathered roots and berries,
while watching the children, while watching so the fire doesn't go out,
while cleaning the cave, while figuring out how to grind corn and wheat
and bake bread. (LOL). We've known since those days that many
different things come up in a day and you gotta learn to roll with the
punches and deal with them all.

Meanwhile, men were the hunters and protectors. They want to find the
answer to everything and solve everything right away - get the meat for
dinner and kill the sabre-tooth tiger and everything will be fine for
another day. LOL

Unfortunately, no one has yet figured out how to kill the Sabre-tooth
Tiger that is Fibromyalgia.

Livvy Sue

Take GOOD Care, Livvy Sue

Jane

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Survey/questions
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