I may have found a doctor who actually gets it and knows what to do about it. Not celebrating yet, but…

I went back to the vascular specialist yesterday, only to discover that the lab hadn’t forwarded the results of my CT scan yet (despite having a week to do so). Both I and the doctor were peeved, because I had actually delayed my appointment to make sure he had the results to discuss with me, but whatever.

Anyway, we had a long discussion about my options, and I was cheered and surprised by the content. He basically talked like a Naturopathic doctor in that he feels my problems, both the big-picture stuff (lipoedema and lymphedema) and the more subtle things (poor sleep, chronic inflammation, brain fog, etc.) are a result of chemical imbalances, hormones, possibly some lack in my thyroid activity. We talked about how the traditional blood tests don’t show what’s happening and regular doctors simply tell me I’m within an acceptable spectrum and brush off my concerns. But this doctor offered that by tweaking things a tiny bit—lowering cortisol, upping some hormones and compensating for overkill in others, changing some basic habits—big changes could result.

We talked about managing my diet, and for the first time ever I felt like a doctor was hearing me and discussing my options dispassionately, without judgment. We talked about how hard it is, once you have seen health issues get out of control and beyond a point, to back things up and retrieve your good health. But he encouraged me to think both holistically and globally and to seriously and relentlessly put into practice some changes on all fronts at once to start that process.

He is the first doctor I have talked to who thinks I should consider all options and choose those that can help the most, and said not to close my mind from the most minute (more exercise, small changes in diet, supplements) to the most drastic (i.e., surgeries and medications). And he also had a positive attitude about the things I was already doing (wrapping, vibration platform, squeezie pants), and encouraged me to continue and expand upon them.

I told him I have been so frustrated because I feel like there is definitely something chemically wrong with me, but have tried supplements, probiotics, all sorts of remedies with little to no result; he said that’s because everyone is different, and what works perfectly for one person may not work at all or even work adversely for someone else. So I walked out of his office with a new set of blood and lipid panels to get tested, and we’re going to see what’s what.

Meanwhile, I continue with Carol’s regime of wrapping my legs with Fabrifoam, and have seen excellent results with ridding the wrapped parts of excess fluid. The wound area on my left leg has decreased slightly and calmed down with the implementation of new ointment plus consistent, continuous wrapping, and I think it’s leaking a bit less.

A new shipment of the wider, longer Fabrifoam bandages arrived yesterday, and I spent my waking hours between 4:00 and 6:30 a.m. streaming a show while re-rolling them in preparation for starting the more extensive wrapping—toe to thigh—this week. I’ll keep you posted!