Finally, some bad news!

[Nocturne]

So I had my meeting with the teledoc yesterday. The guy was really nice, very informed, and able to admit when he didn't know something. This is super important to me -- I live with three docs, I already know they aren't gods, so I find the tendency some of them seem to have to try to maintain that godly image as kind of tedious in that it can get in the way of learning on both sides. Even more importantly, when I mentioned something he had not heard of, he would often ask where I had heard it and if I could tell him more. So now I will be off to gather articles and studies to send back to him. Very cool and a lot better than being dismissed and told that I am "beyond the knowledge of medical science". This doc was also kind enough to waive his usual fees for his time (close to $5000) because my case was so unusual. That was much appreciated. But on to the bad news! He had a CIMT pulled for me, and the results were that my carotid arteries are about the equivalent of a 51 year old man (I am 44). That's only SEVEN years older than my actual age! I was really relieved by this, and the doc also told me that the results were a lot better than he had expected. With luck and effort I may not have a stroke before I die! So it was bad news, but not the catastrophic news that both the doc and I had expected. He said that given the situation with my Lp(a) and other peculiarities he had expected my CIMT to be as bad as my CAC. So much better than learning that my coronary arteries were the equivalent of a 75 year old man! Best medical news I've had in two years! Yessir, my future's so bright, I gotta wear shades!

 

[MartinF]

Great news, one less thing to focus on.

 

[honeybunny]

Well, congrats on the good news!

 

[epstns]

You had me worried with the thread title, Nocturne! Whew! I'm glad to find that at least PART of you is about the age on your driver's license. Hope things settle down for you for a bit.

 

[Nocturne]

So actually, the doc “misspoke” and my carotid artery is really the equivalent of a 56 year old. So 12 years older than I actually am. And that’s STILL the best medical news I’ve gotten in quite a while.

I “caught” this when I saw the test results in print inadvertently as the doc was showing me something else. I pointed it out and he checked and told me that yes, it was 56. But I had written it down as he told me the first time, and he had said 51.

Just like another doc told me my CAC score was 136 before I checked the actual results and found that it was 156.

Do docs just tell little white lies when they can see you are royally screwed? Can you ever really trust them?

 

[carolinemc]

Nocturne, Specialists are not perfect and it is great when one knows it and works to be better. They ask where you heard your information because they may look it up online later. They like to keep learning like we all do. I had one so called cardio, who took my blood pressure, tell me that it was reading 500, over what, he could not say. He could not read the thing and was literally telling me that I should have been dead already. I was so livid that I could not speak. Never have a cardio who does not know how to blood pressure reading to do it. Run! Hide! LOL! Hugs for today.