I had a doctor’s appointment at 8am today. I don’t normally ever make any appointment before noon but they were able to get me in so quickly that I took them up on it.
I’m new to this area and trying to find a doctor that 1) believes fibromyalgia is real 2) can deal with the drugs that alleviate my symptoms. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack. So I did my research, picked one and called.
I made sure I went to bed early and took less than my usual dose of sleep aides…just in case. So I didn’t sleep well, but at least I got up on time and was able to work through the usual morning kinks and fog.
Yesterday I really prepared for the appointment; which was some seriously hard work. Flipped through all my medical records and went through the list of everything I’ve tried (long list) and pulled my records from Patients Like Me where I chart my symptoms and treatment. Wrote out a list of all the doctors I’ve seen and their addresses and phone numbers. Wrote out a summary of what exactly was going on these days. I don’t trust my memory or my ability to get the words out in anxiety-ridden situations. And doctors tend to cause me lots of angst.
Then I printed out the directions. Check and double check the address and the name, drove downtown through rush hour traffic, found the office on the second shot (it’s always like somebody hit the “off” button on my sense of direction. It is what it is.) and found a parking space. Could be because I arrived 45 minutes early and the clinics hadn’t even opened up yet. But I waited patiently and then got to the front desk, showed her my ID and…
My appointment is August 20th. Not today July 20th. What I didn’t check was the calendar. My cognitive difficulties are still alive and kickin’!
So now I’m home and have the whole day to write a blog post about it. And wonder what I’m going to do about the drug situation. And that is what it is…
