Good doctors DO exist.

Yesterday I went to the endocrinologist for the first of what will likely be many visits to start dealing with my hypothyroidism. I had originally made an appointment for March, because that was the first one available, but they had a last-minute cancellation and I had put myself on the waiting list for those, because I wasn't excited about waiting two months for my appointment. And that trick paid off, because I wound up waiting only one month.

Anyway, the endocrinologist was great. Seriously, he was fantastic. I did a lot of research before I picked him, and I'm glad of it. First of all, he spent over an hour in the office with me. Second of all, he was incredibly thorough, made sure to explain all of my options to me, and answered all of my questions. He also kept asking me if I had more questions in a way that implied that he really meant it, as opposed to most doctors who seem to be saying, "Anymorequestions?" in a rushed whisper as they are halfway out the door.

He explained to me that I have a mild case, which I had guessed based on the fact that I had hardly any of the symptoms, and told me that while he would recommend treating it now, since it was a mild case I had the option of just monitoring for the moment and not taking synthetic thyroid hormone. I told him that I wanted to treat and he still went ahead and elaborated on the options, just to make sure I was making an informed decision.

He did an ultrasound of my thyroid, said it's a bit enlarged, and said as well that my current dose of Synthroid is very low and that he'll probably need to raise it. But he wanted to do bloodwork first, so that he could give an informed prescription. The nurse took three whole vials of blood, which absolutely sucked. I have never had that much blood drawn at once for a test. I have given blood before, which took longer, but I don't know what was different--maybe I was expecting it then? Maybe they used a better vein that time? But this time, it was slow, and it hurt.

The doctor also said that the Synthroid takes six weeks to start working, which made me feel better because I haven't seen any effects yet. Speaking of which, we sucked it up and got a new scale, and now I am grumpy because it is five pounds higher than our old scale (using Torsten as my control group since his weight is pretty stable). I had suspected that our old scale was a little low, and now it's been confirmed. But I LIKED it that way.

Anyway, I think I can honestly say that despite the crappy blood drawing process, this was the best experience I have ever had with a doctor. And I am happy about that, because I'll be seeing him regularly. This condition requires treatment for life. With my last doctor, that sounded like a threat. With this one, not so much.