Learnings

First, thank you friends for your kind and encouraging comments.  They mean a lot to me - more than you can imagine.  I'm physically and emotionally different than I was a few months ago, so it means a lot to feel the love coming in.  Thank you.

My last post was the first page of my powerpoint presentation as I shared my story about my journey through cushings.  The following is the traditional advice or "what I learned" that makes it a valid health moment to share with my colleagues.  Of course these are just the main points, the details are in the talking points.

Managing Your Health
Tips for navigating difficult to diagnose medical conditions

•Find a good internist…now

–Internist vs. family practitioner

–Referrals to specialists will be like-minded

•Trust yourself / knowledge of your body

–Get second / third opinions

•Research doctors

–Google

–Rate MDs*

–Health Grades

–Vitals.com

•Schedule new patient appointments with 2-3 doctors/specialists simultaneously

–Ask to be placed on cancellation lists

–Follow-up with appointment schedulers regarding cancellations

•Get copies of your medical records, particularly labs

–Follow-up regarding lab results

–Recognize that labs can be conducted in various levels of detail

•As your condition progresses, repeat labs

–Look for trends

•Don’t give up!