My Diagnosis: Day 3
Day 3:
I was moved to another ward in the middle of the night that evening. I was "bracing" the result but in reality I was hoping it was just dehydration. However, after this sudden move I began thinking that something is truly wrong. I keep over-using this phrase but this time I actually mean it.
I remember my anxiety rushing in all at once at this point. It's caused my memory to be a bit blurred after this. I can only really remember the first two days well as I think I had been trying to subconsciously repress these later memories. But I'm going to try and recall as much of it as I can.
That morning I remember waking to a see a health assistant/nurse readying several blood test tubes. He said they needed more results. I wanted an explanation for why they needed so many bloods from me especially when I was weak as it is. But he just stayed silent as I asked and told me to extend my arm. I was kind of intimidated so I complied. A couple of hours later a doctor came in and asked me about my symptoms.
I described all of them, including my pigment changes and I showed them an old picture of me with relatively fair skin. They then starting humming and 'ah'-ing, deciding to bring even more doctors in. I think they had started to realise at this point that I probably have Addison's Disease. They still used those previous bloods to rule out anything else and then began taking even more in preparation for what they called a 'synacthen' test. They took bloods before and after stimulating my adrenal glands. The results would later obviously show no change. But that's for Day 4.
I don't mean to slander doctors in anyway by saying this because my sister is one herself and also because I highly respect the profession for the hard work they do. Once they started suspecting Addison's, I became sort of an 'oddity' and many many doctors kept visiting me constantly even before I had received a diagnosis. I started to feel really anxious and worried that something was very wrong with me. I kept voicing my concern, but all they would say is not to worry. One very annoying doctor - a consultant (endocrine) came with a couple of students to 'observe' me. They entered the room with no permission and he asked the students to look at my symptoms. He then apologised for my 'Addison's Disease' diagnosis which I hadn't even received yet. I just looked at them straight, wondering why they were standing next to me with no emotion and why this doctor I had not even met had diagnosed me. Since I didn't receive an introduction or anything, I just told them to leave after a while.
In hindsight, I should have let them observe me so they can have more knowledge about the condition (which I didn't know I had yet) but they treated me like a dummy that the school had provided them with. If any doctors/future doctors are reading this, please don't ever treat your patients like this. I know I took away a learning opportunity from them, but I'm still human and deserve to be treated like one. To be completely honest, I've definitely diluted my reaction in my words so far. I was deeply offended by what had happened and I spent the whole day pretty much complaining to my sister about it on face-time. It took away the trust I had in the doctors around me and made me feel like I was just a puppet.
Apart from that, I was finally able to walk a tiny distance and I could go to the toilet and have a shower quite comfortably. Sometimes, I would lose my balance but the huge pole attached to my cannula was sufficient to save me.
Day 3 was very tiring for me emotionally. I felt so drained from the bloods and just in general by everything. However, it wasn't all bad. There was this really nice nurse who came periodically to check me. I would complain to her and although she wouldn't outright agree (in order to respect her colleagues), she would silently nod and slip some shade in there about those few doctors. As well as my family, my best friend came to visit me in a rush even though they were busy themselves. It made me feel a lot better about everything that had been happening. I'm very thankful to all of those people. I would've had a breakdown otherwise, I'm pretty sure.
If anyone is suspected to have this condition, as a patient I would advise being as transparent as you can to your GP. The smallest things can hint that someone has this condition. If you are lucky, they will refer you and then you will be given treatment as an outpatient and do not have to deal with the crisis symptoms.
I was moved to another ward in the middle of the night that evening. I was "bracing" the result but in reality I was hoping it was just dehydration. However, after this sudden move I began thinking that something is truly wrong. I keep over-using this phrase but this time I actually mean it.
I remember my anxiety rushing in all at once at this point. It's caused my memory to be a bit blurred after this. I can only really remember the first two days well as I think I had been trying to subconsciously repress these later memories. But I'm going to try and recall as much of it as I can.
That morning I remember waking to a see a health assistant/nurse readying several blood test tubes. He said they needed more results. I wanted an explanation for why they needed so many bloods from me especially when I was weak as it is. But he just stayed silent as I asked and told me to extend my arm. I was kind of intimidated so I complied. A couple of hours later a doctor came in and asked me about my symptoms.
I described all of them, including my pigment changes and I showed them an old picture of me with relatively fair skin. They then starting humming and 'ah'-ing, deciding to bring even more doctors in. I think they had started to realise at this point that I probably have Addison's Disease. They still used those previous bloods to rule out anything else and then began taking even more in preparation for what they called a 'synacthen' test. They took bloods before and after stimulating my adrenal glands. The results would later obviously show no change. But that's for Day 4.
I don't mean to slander doctors in anyway by saying this because my sister is one herself and also because I highly respect the profession for the hard work they do. Once they started suspecting Addison's, I became sort of an 'oddity' and many many doctors kept visiting me constantly even before I had received a diagnosis. I started to feel really anxious and worried that something was very wrong with me. I kept voicing my concern, but all they would say is not to worry. One very annoying doctor - a consultant (endocrine) came with a couple of students to 'observe' me. They entered the room with no permission and he asked the students to look at my symptoms. He then apologised for my 'Addison's Disease' diagnosis which I hadn't even received yet. I just looked at them straight, wondering why they were standing next to me with no emotion and why this doctor I had not even met had diagnosed me. Since I didn't receive an introduction or anything, I just told them to leave after a while.
In hindsight, I should have let them observe me so they can have more knowledge about the condition (which I didn't know I had yet) but they treated me like a dummy that the school had provided them with. If any doctors/future doctors are reading this, please don't ever treat your patients like this. I know I took away a learning opportunity from them, but I'm still human and deserve to be treated like one. To be completely honest, I've definitely diluted my reaction in my words so far. I was deeply offended by what had happened and I spent the whole day pretty much complaining to my sister about it on face-time. It took away the trust I had in the doctors around me and made me feel like I was just a puppet.
Apart from that, I was finally able to walk a tiny distance and I could go to the toilet and have a shower quite comfortably. Sometimes, I would lose my balance but the huge pole attached to my cannula was sufficient to save me.
Day 3 was very tiring for me emotionally. I felt so drained from the bloods and just in general by everything. However, it wasn't all bad. There was this really nice nurse who came periodically to check me. I would complain to her and although she wouldn't outright agree (in order to respect her colleagues), she would silently nod and slip some shade in there about those few doctors. As well as my family, my best friend came to visit me in a rush even though they were busy themselves. It made me feel a lot better about everything that had been happening. I'm very thankful to all of those people. I would've had a breakdown otherwise, I'm pretty sure.
If anyone is suspected to have this condition, as a patient I would advise being as transparent as you can to your GP. The smallest things can hint that someone has this condition. If you are lucky, they will refer you and then you will be given treatment as an outpatient and do not have to deal with the crisis symptoms.
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