Entries for month: March 2007
I've had these thoughts brewing in the back of my mind ever since I got off the phone with Dr. L's office. So I'll go ahead and come out with it.
I used to be able to do 200 sit-ups at the bat of an eye, and now I almost break a sweat getting up off of the floor. When it hurts to walk from one room to another, there's really no motivation to get any exercise at all.
No more excuses. As soon as I physically can (and get Doctor permission) I'm going to get back in shape and take good care of myself. I'll join a gym or find somewhere similar I can go work out – Megan jokes, "There's a
Curves down the street!"
I'll do Tae Bo in the mornings. I'll continue to eat well, and try to eat even better. I'll go running, and use our treadmill when the weather is bad. I'll get up early every day so I have time to work out. We're going to try some yoga tapes soon, since that's low impact; and hopefully I'll be able to do those and get back in the habit of working out.
It's sad to think about the shape I used to be in, and compare it to the shape I'm in now; and realize that it's only been three years. And I have to promise myself that I won't take my return to mobility and loss of pain for granted. So I'm asking you to keep me honest. If I ever start sounding like I'm back to normal, don't let me forget that I promised myself that I wouldn't take that for granted.
Yesterday afternoon I lined things up to get a second opinion from another GI. I'm not dissatisfied with Dr. Laskin, but if there are other treatments available or if he's not recognizing the severity of my condition for some reason, I want to know it. It all happened so fast, I could barely keep track of what was going on.
A friend of a friend of my Mom's works at the
NIH, and they got me in touch with him. He asked around and found out that the leading IBD clinician in our area is Dr. Gary Lichtenstein, at
U. Penn, and gave me some contact information. After checking to make sure Dr. L was "in network" with our new health insurance, I called his office to schedule an appointment. The secretary there told me it would be faster to have my records sent over and wait for Dr. L to review them and call me back. If nothing else, the first "new patient" appointment they could fit me in was in early July. She also gave me a phone number to call and check for cancellation openings after I do get an appointment scheduled.
So I called my PCP office and asked them to fax over my records; and also wrote a sort of cover sheet for my medical resume. I just introduced myself, told them how he was suggested to me, and gave a brief synopsis of my symptoms and the treatments we've tried; and said to expect my medical records soon.
On one hand I'm hoping that my case will be important enough to him that he'll want to see me sooner rather than later, and he'll be able to help me out – but on the other hand I know I'll be just a little bit worried about myself if he does.
