Surgeon and Neurologist

Well, this week has been full of appointments for me. Tuesday I had my 3rd post-op appointment with my surgeon. It was just a check up and to see if he would give me the "green light" to start chewing. HE DID!!!!! It's been just over 7 weeks without chewing. WOW, the time really did fly by. He told me that I am now on an "unrestricted" diet! But that I do have to slowly introduce things back in. Like, don't jump right to pizza crust or steak. Start off slowly and work the jaw muscles back up to it. But in a few weeks I should be back to eating what I was before. That's good, but it's also scary. I have lost 15 pounds, and I REALLY want to keep them off. So now that I am able to eat anything, I will have to be extra careful. I have switched to smaller plates. I'm the type that I will eat what is on my plate. So with a smaller plate it looks full with less food.

I also asked him about when I can get my implant for my fake tooth. He wants me to wait at least 6 months, and until the braces come off. So hopefully that will be at the same time. I'm still not sure if I will have my surgeon do the implant or my regular dentist. My ortho got me confused last time I was there. He said something about having less people in there, so I thought he meant having the surgeon do it. But then he made it sound like if the surgeon did it, my regular dentist would still be the one to make the implant. So I'm confused. But I have time to decide on that. And it's just an office procedure with local numbing, so it's not that big of a deal. I also had to ask when I could play volleyball again. He said he wants me to wait until I'm 4 - 6 months post-op. So that's only another 2 - 4 months. He said that the first surgery went so well; he would like to leave it that way! But I'm hoping that I will be pregnant by then, so I won't be able to go back anyway!!! We'll see though.

So I went to Wendy's tonight with my husband for dinner. I got a Jr. Cheeseburger. It was quiet disappointing. It wasn't nearly as enjoyable as I thought it would be. I still can only open less than an inch, so I had to squish it first. Then because I can't fit much in the back teeth I had to take the tiniest bites. I was actually missing my soup and mushy foods. This will definitely take some time to get use to. I was also noticing that I kept biting my cheeks. Has any one else had this problem?

Today I went to the new neurologist about my headaches and dizziness. WOW, he has to be the worst doctor I have EVER been to. First his "assistant" comes in. I HATE that. They ask all of these questions, and then the doc comes in and asks the SAME questions. Why are they wasting our time? But anyway... she asks me all of these questions and is mainly concentrating on my headaches. I have a constant headache. I honestly can't remember the last time I didn't have a headache. They are just ALWAYS there, granted, some days are worst then others, but it's always there. I can deal with those. It's sad to say, but I've dealt with them for so long, that I sometimes forget it's even there.

My main concern is the dizziness. Oh, which by the way was accompanied this weekend with total loss of short-term memory. I kept asking the same questions over and over and over and over. I finally just quite talking because I was afraid that I would just be repeating myself, and honestly, it scared me. Back to the doc (who I think got his degree out of a Cracker Jack Box)… The assistant keeps asking me the same question, just worded differently. I finally say to her "You just asked me that and my answer was ....." She gave me a dirty look. Well, then stop asking me the same question. It felt like she was trying to trick me. So I am trying to tell her about all of the different doctors and there diagnosis over the past 6 years. She doesn't really seem to care and keeps interrupting me and asking me different questions.

So she leaves and fills the doctor in. He comes in and asks me the SAME questions she just asked me multiple times. Ummm, hello, I'm going to keep giving you the same answer. He too seems to be more concerned with the headaches then with the dizziness. I tell him how I use to be on Depakote, but that I had to go off since we want to start trying to get pregnant. He tells me that I have migraines. NO SHIT, I told you that!!! He tells me that he would give me medicine for it, but that all of them are known to cause birth defects. I tell him that I don't want medicine, I want a diagnosis. And I don't feel that this is a correct and accurate diagnosis. By this time, I am starting to get a little emotional. I cry at the drop of a hat, and today was just not a good day. He asks me what I want him to do. I tell him that I have been dealing with this for over 6 years and it is starting to have a huge effect on my life. I just want to know what is wrong with me, is that too much to ask for? He has me walk over to the wall where there is a poster, and he shows me the signs of Basilar Migraines. I fit some of the signs. But the only way to diagnosis this is pretty much by eliminating other things. He again asks me "What do you want me to do?" I say, "I want you to care. Every other doctor I have been to just wants to shove medicine down my throat. As soon as I tell you I am not going to take any meds, you seem to want to brush me off." "Well what do you expect me to do?" is his response. I asked him "Don't you want to run any tests to make sure it's not something more serious, rather then just giving me a blanket diagnosis?" So he goes "Well, I can order you an MRI. You tell me what tests you want and what you want to be tested for, and I can order them." ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?! Ummm, last time I checked my degree was in Computer/Electrical Engineering, NOT medicine. Isn't that HIS job to figure out what tests to run and what to test for? Both him and his assistant asked if my thyroid was ever tested, and they were both surprised when I said no. But do you think that he wanted to test that? No. So I grab my coat and my purse and tell him that I am leaving. That I will find a different doctor that is actually willing to figure out what is wrong with me. So I go to check out (why I have to pay the co-pay for nothing is beyond me) and he wrote on my chart that he wanted to see me again in 3 months and he had an order for an MRI. SERIOUSLY? I told the receptionist that I didn't need another appointment; there was NO way I was coming back. I didn't care that there were other patients there that could hear me. They deserved to know that he sucked.

So I left his office crying and got to the car to call my mother. She was in shock. She has had some neurological problems since a fall several years ago, and she really likes her neurologist. I am tempted to drive over 2 hours to see hers. At least he is willing to figure out what is wrong with you, and not just brush you off. At one point he even said that my worrying about it is just making it worst. Basically that it was just in my head (um yeah, that's why it's called a headache!). And he told me to make sure that I get enough sleep and don't skip meals. Well, if he were to have read my record he would see that I am hypoglycemic, so there is NO way that I skip meals. I'll get shaky before I get a headache from not eating.

So, that was my lovely day! I now get to try to find yet another neurologist in my area. Everyone that I know has only gone to Neurosurgeons, and not neurologists. So I'm going blindly here. That pretty much ruined my day and put me in a down mood. I was so looking forward to finally figuring what was wrong with me... and I get this guy.

But on a happier note, if anyone is still reading this since I have written a book... Brandy gets her braces off tomorrow!!!!! Are all of us brace-faces jealous? I know I am. But she deserves it. She has been though a lot. I can't wait until I join her!