I am back and ready to “rock and roll.”

It has been more than two weeks since I contributed to this blog.  On March 18th I somehow corrupted the web site software.  –

After numerous emails begging the Sitebuilder Technicians for help, I decided to take the bull by the horn and solve the problem myself. I finally fixed the problem yesterday after spending 6 hours working on the HTML code.

My last big beef was the fact that I had not heard back from the doctor in the city in the west. No copy of the letter he wrote to my referring doctor and no copy of the test results. I finally faxed the doctor in the west again on March 27th, telling him that this trip to see him had cost me a substantial amount of money, time and energy.  I also told him that I wanted the letter and test results ASAP.

Imagine my surprise when my fax machine finally produced some results last Thursday afternoon; 31 days after I saw this doctor. My gut feeling was right; two of the tests were within normal limits. The doctor wrote, “Widebertha had the intravenous dexamethasone tolerance test, which was successfully performed on February 26th. Her post test 9:00 AM cortisol was 14 which is well below the diagnostic cut off for Cushing’s disease. This effectively rules out the diagnosis.” The doctor in the west then went on to say, “As an aside, her baseline serum aldosterone at the time was well below the cut off level used to consider a diagnosis of aldosteronism therefore I believe that is also ruled out.” He also wrote, “As Widebertha has now had the gold standard test for demonstration of hypercortisolemia and has been found to be negative, I would not foresee any further investigations along this line.”

I find it rather amusing that the baseline serum aldosterone was just considered to be “an aside.” Oh well, I think I am just “an aside” to these doctors.

According to the nurse who was in charge of the dexamethasone test, she took a blood test to check my ACTH levels. This supposed ACTH test is not mentioned in the letter the doctor in the west wrote nor is it part of the test results.

Squirt called me late Thursday afternoon, March 28th. I had not heard from him since my appointment on January 23rd.  Squirt informed me that the cardiologist had sent him a letter stating that I needed to see an endocrinologist to be reevaluated for endocrine disease.  Sadly the cardiologist chose Supercilious, whom I had seen in June, 2001.  I told Squirt that I needed some time to think about this proposal.  I had my fill of Supercilious last year.

However, since the Cardiologist has recommended that I be investigated for a possible endocrine disease maybe Supercilious will get off his high horse long enough to properly exam me and to take heed of test results that are abnormal.  Last summer when some of my lab results came back below normal, Supercilious insisted that it was just a fluke.

Squirt went on to say that he thought it was now finally time for me to see the doctor in the city in the west. Duh!!!! He told me that there were tests that he, Squirt, had refused to do up until now. He informed me that he had changed his mind and thought maybe the doctor in the west could do them. I informed Squirt that I had already been to the city in the west.  The trauma that bit of news created was awful!  Poor man; took him a good minute to regain his speech!  I went on to tell Squirt that the doctor in the west had given me three tests namely ACTH, Renin and Dexamethasone; the results of the Renin and Dexamethasone ruled out Cushing’s and there was no mention of the ACTH result.

Another trauma occurred when I told Squirt that I did not have right side heart failure. He of course wanted to know who had told me this. I told him the cardiologist had been very clear in his assessment of my imaginary right side heart failure. I then asked Squirt why in the world he sent me to an idiot like Dingaling who could not tell the difference between a fat neck and a distended carotid artery.  My answer to that question was a series of hiccups and gulps for air.

Squirt mentioned the information that he had received from Bighead at the Sleep Clinic.  He told me that Bighead felt that my sleep apnea was so mild that a CPAP machine would probably not make a difference to my symptoms.  Squirt neglected to mention several important tests and investigations that Bighead had listed. I of course felt it was my duty to tell him about these tests and investigations. This lead to another hiccup and air gulping attack.  After Squirt settled down a bit, he conceded that the tests and investigations I had mentioned were listed in the report he had received from Bighead.  Squirt finally acknowledged that he would have to make a valiant attempt to make sure I had all the tests and investigations done that Bighead had listed. And pigs fly!

I then took a few more minutes of Squirt’s extremely precious time, note the sarcasm, and told him what the cardiologist had said about Graves and RAI.  I told Squirt that the cardiologist was the only doctor I had seen in the last four years who had the “you know whats” to tell me that Graves and RAI can sometimes, though rarely, cause irreversible damage in a patient. I went on to tell him that the cardiologist thought I might be that rare unfortunate person. If that was the case I would have to learn how to deal with the nightmare that the Blonde Bimbo foisted upon me. I then reminded Squirt that the three so-called brilliant and best endocrinologists I had seen in the city had vehemently denied any relationship between my symptoms and Graves/RAI. I also told Squirt that the cardiologist told me that some of my tests suggested that I might very well have a kidney disease. I also mentioned that the cardiologist had told me that low vasopressin levels were not a FLUKE but could be an indication of a kidney disease.

Squirt then started to belly ache about how I had never mentioned other diseases; I had only mentioned endocrine diseases. That is when I had a trauma! I told Squirt that I would have thought that at least one of the four endocrinologists I had seen would have had the brains to look for something else. I asked him, “Since when is it the patient’s responsibility to diagnosis herself and then come to see you and tell you what disease she has?” I think not! I told him that the four idiot endocrinologists and the one idiot doctor of internal medicine did not have the wherewithal to look at other possible reasons for my symptoms. They only looked at the reasons I suggested. I told Squirt to bloody well make up his mind since on one hand he wanted me to diagnosis myself and on the other hand he ridiculed the information I got off the internet.

At this point I decided that it was in my best interest to terminate the conversation. Squirt will be gone for two week beginning April 1st. He wants me to come and see him as soon as he gets back. I have two weeks to plan my next strategy.

I absolutely refuse to make Squirt feel better about his failure to listen to Bighead and the Cardiologist.  The way Squirt carried on was pathetic.  He tried to make me feel guilty for causing him some uncomfortable moments when he was responsible for his own ignorance and failure to do his job.