The initial consultation with a doctor is the hardest…to condense 20+ years of symptoms allows for about 1.5minutes per year.  Some years were worse than others; some weekends were worse than entire years.

[Thursday, March 15]  I found myself once again attempting this symptomatic synopsis, and though I feel I’m fairly eloquent when it comes to storytelling, I felt myself rushing and backtracking and questioning whether what I was sharing was the key that would unlock what was going on.  I was armed with a list of symptoms categorized by body system as well as a list to guide me through my medical narrative.

The prior evening was a bit rough (I think it was because of the eight french fries I had with supper), so it was nice…comfortable that my appointment at Mayo wasn’t until 9:45.  Dr. H (endocrinologist) was patient attentive, thorough, and allowed me to take my time.  He was skeptical of the hyperinsulinemia diagnosis, but didn’t contest that something was wrong with me.  He ordered several tests and gave me a ‘Fast Pass’ for symptoms of hypoglycemia that allowed me to go to the front of the lab line at any one of six labs.  I’ve never had a fast pass, but I was skitchy about using it too soon–before I had a full-on burst of symptoms.  So Dr. H gave me two passes and said I could fast until symptoms occurred or eat sugar to provoke them.  I left with two fast passes, orders for a five hour mixed-meal test and a simple determination to fast until I was symptomatic.  And peace…unlike I’d felt before in that situation: I was grateful for the prayers of many.

Meals:
Breakfast: prayer with my sister-in-law
Lunch: water