“Take a number and please be seated we will be with you in just a moment.”
Those words can actually cause a panic in some people having to wait to see a doctor. No matter what you are going to see the doctor for, it still can be nerve wrecking to wait just to fill out forms. Always make an early appointment if you want to at least receive a small number so that you won’t have to wait so long.
With some people, waiting can raise blood pressure. In many cases my blood pressure will be fine until I get in to see the doctor. This reason is that I don’t know what he’s going to tell me.
Inhale. . .exhale. . .February 2012, I sit and wait in the examination room for the doctor.
This is this third doctor I’ve had in a year so, maybe this doctor can tell me why I’ve had this pain for the past year that actually had me to the point where I wasn’t able to walk. Don’t let this frighten you; when you have the opportunity to go to the clinic, hospital, emergency room-GO!
The doctor did the necessary routine: checked the heart, the ears, eyes, throat and the reflexes. He took a deep breath and said, “I’m going to try something and you let me know if this hurts.” He took his index finger and thumb and pressed them against my shoulder blades. A pain shot down the whole side of my back.
Each of the pressure points he touched hurt worst than the first.
He once again took a breath, and then he sat down on his stool. “Well, Ms. Barlow, the only explanation that I can give you is you have this condition called fibromyalgia. It’s a clinical diagnosis because all the testing we have given you, it shows nothing in your blood work. So your blood work is fine.”
The doctor explained the things that I had to do along with taking the medication prescribed.
What was not mentioned was that I had to find out the foods that trigger the pain. I have had to become a Vegan in the process. And since I love vegetables, I find it easy to change my eating habits. I am still learning what foods I can eat. My favorite food is buffalo fish~you know the ones with the bones in it?
I don’t fry foods because before I moved out on my own, my family and I had to change our eating habits because of hypertension. My grandmother started baking everything she cooked, and she’s still baking. I continued the tradition of baking and eating much healthier. My weakness is chocolate. As we all know chocolate can make you gain weight if eaten a lot. I have learned that dark chocolate eases the pain of fibromyalgia and possibly even other pains that you may have. October is breast cancer month. This is not just for women but, for men as well. . .Please take time out to know your body better. . .The doctor will see you now.
Stacey Barlow is a contributing blogger for JenningsWire.
