After the farcical visit to Blonde Bimbo on June 2, 2000, I decided to make an appointment with Old Man at the country clinic.  Old Man was the one who had finally diagnosed my Graves Disease after I came to emergency late one afternoon in December 1997.  At that point I had completely lost my voice for several weeks and was experiencing thyroid storms.

The appointment was this afternoon. Old Man took the time to read through my notes and then told me that I should not be feeling as miserable as I do.  Wow, a medical professional who actually acknowledges that I should not be feeling so miserable!  What a miracle!

Old Man looked at my T3 and T4 results from several thyroid panels. He then told me that I was obviously not converting T4 into T3 even though I had been taking Cytomel since October, 1999. He asked me if anything was being done about my <0.1 TSH level. I told him that nothing was being done so he ordered another thyroid panel.

Old Man than addressed the issue of fibromyalgia. He told me that I was anything but depressed and ruled out fibromyalgia with a pressure point test. He did order a bone density scan. He told me that if a person has had hyper symptoms for as long as I did before diagnosis, minerals are leached from the bones. He believes this could be the reason for my hip and leg problems.

Old Man asked what was being done about my high serum cortisol levels. Again I told him nothing was being done. He said he was concerned about the high serum cortisol levels because this could be an indictor of a pituitary or adrenal problem.  He also feels the high cortisol levels could be interfering with T4 to T3 conversion. He feels the high cortisol levels could be the reason for the weight gain around my middle, the water retention in my face, hands and feet, the shape of my face and the constant fatigue.

Old Man told me that just because I was 52 years did not automatically mean that I was depressed. He also told me that no 52-year-old woman should have to put up with symptoms like I have because medical professionals do not take the time to figure out what is wrong.

Even though I still have a long road ahead of me, maybe Old Man will be able to help me.  I must not get my hopes up too high. I have learned the hard way that the disappointment is too great.