This journey technically started in July of 2018. I went to my Primary care doctor for my yearly lab work. Ya know the labs your insurance requires you to do yearly for preventative care.
The way my doctor's office worked in the past was 2 weeks before your scheduled appointment you would walk into the office and have your blood drawn for lab work. Then they would send off your blood and have the results back in time for your yearly scheduled doctor appointment.
Two weeks go by and I am seeing the doctor this time. My doctor discussed my lab work and numbers with me. Of course, the doctor mentioned I still needed to work on lowering my cholesterol. The doctor suggested I eat more vegetables and exercise more. I proceed to tell the doctor that I am eating better and moving more with no results. But her reply was simply I needed to eat more vegetables.
Back story, I have been trying to lose weight for years! I literally have cut out sodas, lost zero weight. I practically gave up ice cream, lost zero weight. I pretty much gave up candy and lost zero weight. I added more fruit and veggies and lost zero weight. It seemed like nothing I was doing was working. And then to hear your doctor say, you just need to eat more veggies and move more, was infuriating.
Talk about beyond frustrated. At this point, I was ready to go back to eating ice cream, drinking sweet time and eating my cake. Why the hell not. If I am not going to lose any weight I might as well enjoy the food I want.
Needless to say, I left that appointment discouraged and frustrated. I felt like she was not listening to me. I didn't think I was sick or that anything was wrong with me. I am active, I do just about anything I wanted to do. Yes, I have days where I wanted to be left alone but who doesn't. My point is I felt pretty darn good, other than I couldn't lose weight.
So when I finally made it home, I opened up my portal to look over my results again. (Ya know -no more paper copies because everything is all online for your convenience now.) It was at that time that I realized there was no lab work done to measure my thyroid or my estrogen levels.
If you don't already know one cause for not losing weight is a thyroid that is out of whack or estrogen levels not in range. I was a little shocked that this was not tested. Besides, I knew that my thyroid was off because I just couldn't lose weight, or at least that is what the internet told me.
I sent her a request through my portal to question why neither lab was performed. Her response was. 1) at my age there was no need to check my estrogen levels. 2) as for my thyroid, if I would come back down they would test my thyroid.
OK, so now I am even more frustrated than I was when I left the office. I am telling you, my doctor, that I am making changes and exercising more, eating better and still not losing weight but my estrogen levels don't need to be checked, WHAT??? Oh, and come back we will check your thyroid. Wait, Are you even listening to me?
I have been with this doctor for the better part of 20 years. In the past, she has always done right by me, until this day. Maybe it is just me. Maybe she was having a bad day. Maybe in my quest to living a healthier more abundant life, I have higher expectations. I don't know the reason and I hate change but I came to the conclusion it was time to move on. So I began my journey to find a solution and a doctor that would listen to me.
I can not encourage you enough to take charge of your own health. No one else is looking out for you. You are your best asset. You know your body better than anyone else. Heck, you live in your body every day, the doctor may only see you once or twice a year. Make sure they are listening to you.
Stay tuned for the next step. I am off to see a new doctor. I can't wait to share the results.
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