2nd Opinion Gastroenterologist Turns Into THE Gastroenterologist!

So today I have an appointment with a doctor who used to be my 2nd Opinion Gastroenterologist.  I call him THE Gastroenterologist now because he really has become the doctor to help me the most on my health journey right now when it comes to digestive issues and apparently I REALLY HAVE THEM!

He helped me figure out that I was dealing with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (and probably had been all my life without being aware of it) in November and his treatment and CALMING DEMEANOR have really helped me.  The 1st Gastro doctor was very helpful for me for almost 2 years but he was so stuck on me having a small intestine bacterial infection that that was all he saw.  Soooo, when my digestive system started acting up he’d throw me on antibiotics which I will admit really did help in the beginning.  BUT THEN, I’m pretty sure they were REVVING up my IBS and my intestines were screaming at me!

So glad I listened to some gentle nudges from others close to me because I don’t know where I’d be now.  I asked for a referral from a newer Gynecologist (who may just end up being my new one there too even though I LOVE my current one) and she was able to give me the name of this current Gastro specialist.

Not only did I like the office environment but I was told right away by his Medical Assistant that I was in the right place and that the doctor I was seeing was the expert with IBS and other digestive issues.  She also said I was in good hands and not to be too nervous–when she had noted how elevated my blood pressure was from being nervous in a new doctor’s office.  She said he was very calming.  And then she pointed out that I was in the right place and that the whole team of doctors in that office work together to help their patients get better.  She said if there’s a problem, they’ll figure it out.  I’d never heard a medical professional within the same office have so much faith in who they worked for…

This doctor sure is calming.  Wow.  AND he’s proactive.  He is very much about dealing with the problems of the moment and not thinking too much in the future and he’s gentle and to the point.  The treatment he first prescribed me helped me a lot.  I FELT LIKE A DIFFERENT PERSON–so much better than I had.  He told me that he was sure my MS and lupus would also feel better if we could just get my body to calm down.  Well that was true too!  He also assured me that there were a lot of various different types of treatments and so if this first one didn’t work or last that we could go a different route.

Well a few weeks ago I was hit with a sinus infection and the doctors get really scared when I get any infection because the diseases I have could flare up and I’m very apt to go from something minor to something major like pneumonia in no time so they’re hit with the dilemma of needing to give me antibiotics to kill it right away.  I wondered this would do to my IBS and my IBS treatment.  Well, let’s just say I haven’t been able to get it back to the “better” it was at since then.  It does still seem to be working but I’m flared up a bit again and according to this doctor, it just means it’s not the right treatment for me or balance just yet.

Soooo, we’ll see how it goes.  As much as I’m so tired of going to the doctor, I’m also really tired of having a part of me that feels really crappy.  So it doesn’t bother me too much to go to this doctor and see what we can do about my situation.  It’s nice to have a doctor who wants to try new things at least to get it right and be proactive and NOT have one who was really telling me to JUST DEAL and keep staying on the antibiotics for the supposed small intestine bacterial infection (I’m convinced I did have one at some point but NOT then) for as long as needed.  I also look forward to his calming influence.  I need that a lot these days.

Yet again I learned to listen to my body.  My body tells me when something’s not right.  I know my body better than anyone.  I need to speak up for it when I can.  I also need to take care of it too which means less stress.  I’m working on that but it’s hard with some of the financial and healthcare insecurities I’m dealing with these days but that’s a whole other Blog post or posts for that matter.

It’s nice to get back into this.  I’ve missed it.  Thank you all for joining me and for reading.