Today I had my annual appointment at my OB/GYN's office. (I promise that this post will not gross you out. It's safe to continue reading.) The whole thing has been kind of a comedy of errors. My doctor, whom I've seen for years and felt very comfortable with despite the fact that she wasn't exactly warm and fuzzy with the bedside manner, retired recently and moved to CA. Because the office is very convenient for me, I decided to try out the new doctor taking her place. But my first appointment was rescheduled because the doctor ended up having to do surgery that day. She called me HERSELF to reschedule. I was blown away by that and feeling optimistic about her.
Then I went for my appointment. But, that day, there was a water main break on the street outside. I waited for half an hour in the waiting room before they rescheduled me and sent me home because they had no water and could not ensure sterile environments. Fine with me! So I rescheduled for today. Or so I thought.
I showed up today, and the receptionist seemed confused to see me. She said my appointment was for tomorrow (same time). That made no sense to me because I can't do appointments on Tuesdays. But the doctor isn't in on Mondays - just the midwives are. So they arranged for one of the midwives to do my appointment.
I wasn't sure what to do. I've had bad experiences with some of the midwives before and during my pregnancy for various reasons, and the one I was going to see was the one who had upset me most of all. But that was a long time ago, and I didn't want to reschedule my appointment AGAIN. So I waited for close to an hour in a freezing room in one of those stupid "robes." I was nearly in tears because I was really afraid that this woman was going to upset me again, so I prayed a lot and imagined Jesus holding my hand to calm me down. Then, I noticed a photo on the wall - of beautiful lilies. And I remembered that Bible verse about the lilies of the field, and I knew that God would take care of me and that things would be okay.
And they were! The midwife was WONDERFUL. She spent more than an hour with me and talked through a lot of my questions and concerns. She was very caring and kind. And, for one problem I talked to her about related to my hormone levels, she gave me tons of recommendations for supplements and exercise and diet, etc. I felt great and was very happy that she hadn't just written me a prescription for some medication that will address one problem if I'm willing to deal with 100+ side effects (I'm the person who ALWAYS gets those weird side effects they list on all the drug TV ads).
But a few hours later, I started feeling overwhelmed by the list of recommendations. Exercise: I haven't been able to find time to fit that into my post-baby life up to now, so I'm not sure how I will magically be able to now. Supplements: Taking calcium, fish oil, and multivitamins multiple times a day is going to be pretty challenging. I'm lucky if I can manage to floss my teeth once a day! Cutting out salt: This is tough for me because the time when I most crave salty stuff is when I now need to cut it out. Cutting out caffeine and alcohol completely during certain times: Again, those certain times are when I actually need my cup of tea and glass of wine to relax and keep from losing my mind (and temper).
So, wish me luck with my regimen. I'm asking God for his help with all of this. He's definitely guiding me because a few minutes before I left for my appointment, I turned on some Christian TV talk show. And, to get the full impact of this, I NEVER do that. I never watch Christian TV because any time I've happened onto it in the past, there's usually some scary person screaming scary things that turn me off. So, today, I turned it on and could not believe the guest this show had on: an endocrinologist talking about the VERY problem I wanted to talk to my doctor about today! This doctor talked about how all the crappy food we eat and especially the hormones that animals are given (and that we later eat) have impaired the liver's ability to function and have screwed up our hormone levels. So he advocates eating whole and organic foods. That made sense to me. I try to do that, but sort of haphazardly. So, between this doctor's and my midwife's advice, I feel like God was trying to help me. So I have to try! I mean, if God is telling me to shape up and start taking better care of my body, I sure as heck better listen. :-)
Happy Monday, everyone! Wishing you all good health!
5 comments:
Sweetheart, I hope that you are feeling better. I don't know much about ladies conditions but some of the things you talked about may not be gender specific.
The doctor doesn't sound like the problem. The person scheduling the appointments is.
The supplements:the midwife is a specialist on pregnant ladies. If you are not pregnant her diagnosis may be as relevant as a tree surgeon. Get the doctor's advice. Supplements are tricky. Sometimes they are not as good as the natural foods that contain the substance. If the fish oil is an attempt to get omega 3, flaxseed oil may be a better alternative. It has omega 6 in the right proportion.
My grandmother used to administer a tablespoon of cod liver oil each morning. I still shudder at the smell of it and it turns out that there are things in it that the fish pick up in the sea that are not very beneficial
Exercise: since when does the Mother of a three year old need additional exercise?
You are a sweet, intelligent, and healthy young lady. If something is wrong, then something is wrong. See the doctor again if possible. It does sound ridiculous that the routine of an obstetrician's office was thrown into confusion by broken water.
I wish you peace, quiet,and an appreciation of just how wonderful you are.
All of my love, always, daddy
How amazing. I love that God sorted all this out in a way that made it clear that even though he was taking you down a road you might not have chosen, he's right there with you making sure you get everything you need. If you need more calcium & fish oil and less coffee and salt, he can make that happen. And when he does, let me know, as I could use less coffee and salt too!
Honey, you were one of TWO people who supported me through my nutritional hell. TWO. In all of our "friends" - TWO people supported me. I wish I were there to help you with yours. You can do it.
I think I will call or email to give you more encouragement. If you want to vent or talk, let me know.
I hear you girlfriend...I will be here to support you too.
I'm trying to touch base tonight as I have a very busy weekend ahead. Love and Hugs...:)
Hey Sweetie!
I've been looking at a LOT of green publications, specifically "Mothers For A Livable Planet" ( I think) founded in part by Meryl Streep,and "Mother Earth News", really great sites. That is what has led to all this animal husbandry. The latter is particularly appealing to people who don't want to become full on vegan, and points out how this might not be practical. Not that there is anything WRONG with going vegan, PETA!!!!!! It's lovely! I'm just not ready to throw out my shoes and couch and let my "canine American" wander the streets unencumbered and keep my cats inside with a homemade "CATSCAPE", and feed them vegan food. But Mother Earth News has a lot of great information, and it's sort of for regular people who want to be green, but not insane. Good luck with everything, it sounds like it will all work, although I would struggle with the glass of wine too- it's express relaxation, which is sometimes all we have time for.
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