OPP, or rather OPMP

While I wait patiently to hear the results of my RAI and WBS, let's talk about other people's medical problems, or OPMP.

First off, there's my dad. If you've been following along with my blog, you know my dad has had a triple bypass and a minor stroke all within the last three months. I have been trying to encourage my dad to see beyond what he feels are his new lifelong limitations brought on by these two major events, such as being placed on Coumadin and having to wear a monitor for a couple of months, doing PT to strengthen his legs, and having to change his diet to keep his diabetes, cholesterol levels, and high blood pressure in check. He always seems to be looking for something to blame his health issues on, to the point that I'm really surprised he hasn't openly blamed God for what he's been going through.
Growing up, my dad always encouraged me and my siblings to take things head on, whether it was school, sports, or our careers, he has always been there to tell us that no matter how bad we thought things were, something good was always around the corner for us, we just had to have faith. So yesterday afternoon I had to ask him, "what happened to that man that used to encourage us when we were down? Where did this man go because he sure wasn't here right now." My dad was quiet for a bit. It just irks me because he'll take a step forward, then take two backward. I told him there's no going back in time, you can't change anything that already happened. You just have to accept it and decide if you are going to let it take over your life or if you are going to do something about it. I've had to do this with my thyroid cancers, by default my mom has to do this because she has two patients to take care of (me and my dad), why on earth can't my dad wrap his head around this?!? I hate talking to my dad like that but someone has to say it, every day, it seems, until it will finally register for him. If I have to, I'll do it a different way every day because I'm not giving up on my dad, so he better not be giving up on himself.


The next OPMP:
While doing errands downtown with my parents yesterday afternoon, I ran into a neighbor that I used to ride the bus with into town. After our bus' route and schedule changed, she ended up taking an earlier bus and I ended up driving to work due to working longer hours, so we would only see each other on the streets downtown every now and then. She of course asked how I was, so I told her I was out on disability because I'm in the middle of thyroid cancer treatment. She mentioned that her doctor said she had a heart murmur and she was being referred to a cardiologist, but wasn't planning on going. So I told her the story about my dad, how a harmless cardiac catheterization turned into him needing triple bypass surgery. Not that she would need that, but my dad was very lucky that they caught the blockages before he had a heart attack. Both of my parents encouraged her to go to this appointment to make sure it wasn't anything serious. I asked if her son was back for the summer (he's an Engineering student at UC Irvine), and she said no, so I told her that if she wanted someone to go with her to the appointment, I would go with her. I think I was scaring her at this point, but I told her how it was good to have my mom with me at my first ENT consult appt because I cried through the whole thing. So I told her to call me or knock on our door to let me know when her appt is so I can go with her. I really do hope she makes that appt and take me up on my offer to go with her. Better to find out now while you still have time to correct it before it's too late and you no longer have that option.

My advice to anyone who gets distressing news from their primary care physician is take the referral to the specialist and make that appointment. Before your appt, do some internet research so you have a basic idea of what the problem might be so you are not completely floored if the specialist has alarming news for you. Most importantly, take a friend, relative, or your spouse with you - someone who can take notes and ask questions if for some reason you are unable to. Had I known that my biopsy uncovered a 'hurthle cell neoplasm', I probably would not have cried through my first ENT consult, but I had this feeling that I was going to need my mommy to be with me at that appt, so I asked her to go with me. I can't even imagine how much worse that appt would have been if I had to sit there, all by myself, taking in everything my ENT was telling me.