Monday, September 24, 2012

Doc-ologist

ol·o·gy

noun, plural ol·o·gies. Informal or Facetious .
any science or branch of knowledge.

-ist

a suffix of nouns, often corresponding to verbs ending in -ize  or nouns ending in -ism,  that denote a person who practices or is concerned with something, or holds certain principles, doctrines, etc.: 

This year especially I seem to be working hard on a new specialty in my life. It's not really something I planned but is something I've put a lot of hours into.

Like most people I have a PCP. That is a Primary Care Physician. Since I seem to be suffering from many conditions I see my PCP at least twice a year. But this year because of some additional testing she's added a few additional visits to our schedules.

Due to my Multiple Sclerosis my Neurologist has been a big part of my life for several years now and he usually likes to see me twice a year as well.

But in addition to my usual doctors this year I have been required to visit more specialists.

At least one of those tests that my PCP decided to run led me to see a Nephrologist. That is a Kidney Specialist. Apparently I had some kidney disease. It's just something to monitor for now. But I now get to see this doctor every four months.

This year I decided to have lap-band surgery. I went to see the surgeon. I guess surgery is too wide of a field for him to be an -ologist. Either that or he's not an expert in his field. I hope it's the former. Anyway, before the surgery can happen I needed to get approvals from other doctors.

I saw a Pulmonologist and passed a breathing test. He also had me go through a sleep test. I ended up with no apneas. 

Then I saw a Psychologist and took several tests to check whether I was mentally ready to handle the changes and routines that would come after the surgery. His definitely approved me for surgery. 


Next in line was a visit to a Cardiologist. For him I passed both the EKG and the stress test.

And along with those visits, my PCP sent me to an Otolaryngologist, otherwise known as an ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) because I apparently have an enlarged thyroid. Results so far show that yes, it's enlarged but not enough to require surgery. But he's also checking out my parathyroids, which I didn't know existed.

Finally, well at least finally for now, my PCP is sending me to an Endocrinologist. Apparently some of my other blood work showed some strange numbers. I really have no idea what news that visit will bring.

After seeing all of these experts I feel that I too have gained some new expertise. I truly feel I now qualify as a DOCologist!

 

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