Frustration at it's Finest

I emailed my PCP to see if she would refer me to an endocrinologist. I received a reply stating that she didn't think the lump had anything to do with the endocrine and that she needed to look at it first. I managed to get an appointment on Monday. I went in, and she said that it was just a swollen lymph gland. She said not to worry about it unless it started growing. I mentioned to her about the fact that I still have symptoms from the thyroid. Still exhausted a lot which requires me to take a nap everyday just so I can function for the rest of it. She asked if I wanted to go into a sleep study because maybe I have sleep apnea. What the hell? I don't snore. I know that for a fact because Steve has only heard me do it once, and says that I don't really do it since that one time. I also told her that I keep up on thyroid issues because you have to take an interest in your own health and health care. I told her that it was suggested that patients with Hashimoto's be at a .02 or even around .01. She said that that was not good. It would cause me to become hyperthryoid and cause heart troubles. She said that my level now is good (it's a 1.3). A 1.3 tsh level is around what 'normal' people have. Hashimoto's patients aren't 'normal' anymore and therefore, the new levels suggested. Needless to say, I didn't get a referral to an endocrinologist. Been trying for over 2 years now, and I am pissed off!

I hate Kaiser, I dislike my doctor, and I'm damned frustrated. The doctor did say she would email the endo to see if it's wise to increase meds since I'm still suffering symptoms. I hate that no one really knows squat about thyroid disease, and the ones that do, I can't see because they are not part of my HMO.

I saw a show called mystery diagnosis the other night, and a guy had been complaining about major stomach pains. He kept going to the doctor, and they told him it was ibs or whatever. Then he had rectal bleeding and they did a sigmoidoscopy (not sure i spelled that right) and told him his colon was fine. That particular procedure only goes part way up your colon. So they attributed his bleeding to hemorrhoids. I could already tell, by this point in the show, the man had some type of cancer. I thought it would be stomach cancer. The doctor STILL attributed it to hemorrhoids even after he passed out and was covered in blood. The man's insurance changed so he went to see a different doctor. By this time, he had been suffering for two years. They did a colonoscopy and told him they found a mass...the mass was on the opposite side of where the previous procedure had been done. He was in Stage 3 colon cancer. He managed to hit the 5 yr mark as there is only a 60% percent chance of making it past that. What's ironic, is that it's a Kaiser doctor who found it. This whole situation is my worse fear....I will fall apart or something will happen, like that of this man, before they take it seriously.

Needless to say, even though I have to stay in the system of this crappy HMO, I am planning on changing doctors once again.