[barb dwyer]

I went to the doctor as planned, armed with my sheet of symptoms.

I was as calm as I could be and explained to her that I felt she has not been listening to me – that she’s gotten it into her head with this whole ‘bi-polar’ stuff and meanwhile – I’m suffering truly SUFFERING with these symptoms that I have been complaining about for a year now.

I am sure what I said to her made her mad.

Then I lifted my pants leg and showed her the weird swellings in my ankles.
I said ‘This … is not hypochondria. It is not depression, it is not a mental affliction. This … is the perfect imprint of socks that I took off over two hours ago. (you could still count threads in the deep impressions in my legs.)

The swellings, and my BP reading made her sit up and notice, though.

SO she took four vials of blood, and promised to whip them off to the lab.

I got my phone call at three this afternoon.
She woke me up so what I'm relating here isn't complete or even UNDERSTOOD by me as yet. But this is the best I remember.
My TSH count is apparently supposed to be around 5-6.
MINE … is over 100.
Thyroid.

I don’t know all the ‘lingo’ yet,
we haven't even set an appointment to talk about what all this is.
I'm printing off medical brochures like crazy online tho.
Give me a little time and I’ll be able to recite it all like a pro, I’m sure.

It’s only the beginning of what is going to be a long thing,
But at least I’m being heard.

There's still three vials of blood's worth of tests to come back yet.