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Update on doctor visit
Oct. 2nd, 2020 08:13 amI went to the endocrinologist yesterday. I didn't take any OTC meds because I didn't want to mask any of my symptoms, so by the time of my 3:45 appointment, I felt terrible.
I got worried that they weren't going to let me keep my appointment when they did the COVID screening because I had a fever, but they did let me keep it.
I hadn't seen this nurse practitioner before, but I really like her (which is good because it seems they are shunting me over to her; my next regular appointment in the spring is with her rather than the doctor I had been seeing the past few years). She took me seriously, listened, and did a variety of tests. Most importantly, she came up with a plan for what we're going to do next if all these tests are fine. I don't think I can stress how important that is, knowing that you still have an avenue to explore if the current ones aren't very fruitful. It sucks when a doctor is just done with you after your test results don't give a quick and clear answer.
She thinks I have viral pneumonia. So after my appointment, I drove the hour back home and had a chest X-Ray here at the hospital in town. The doc is closed today, so I won't know the results of that until Monday. Her being confident doesn't make it so, but she was pretty confident that it's viral pneumonia.
She also tested me for COVID antibodies while warning me that she is not confident about the accuracy of the test. She tested me for Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, an Epstein Barr panel, my regular thyroid panel, and some adrenal work. I suspect all of the blood work will be fine because it always is, but we'll see. If all of these tests are fine, I'm getting referred to an infectious disease specialist.
I have to tell you that all this uncertainty about COVID testing is really disconcerting. I have never gone to the doctor before and gotten a test and then wondered whether the results are accurate. But here I am wondering if two kinds of different tests administered by two different entities days apart from each other could have given me false negatives. And if the antibodies test comes back negative, does that really mean I never had COVID? Reputable sites like the Mayo Clinic are saying both false positives and negatives are possible with this test, so who even knows?
So now I'm just waiting and crossing my fingers that I have viral pneumonia and can start getting treated and put this whole thing behind me. Thank you so much for your support and good thoughts; it's made this a lot more bearable. *hugs*
I got worried that they weren't going to let me keep my appointment when they did the COVID screening because I had a fever, but they did let me keep it.
I hadn't seen this nurse practitioner before, but I really like her (which is good because it seems they are shunting me over to her; my next regular appointment in the spring is with her rather than the doctor I had been seeing the past few years). She took me seriously, listened, and did a variety of tests. Most importantly, she came up with a plan for what we're going to do next if all these tests are fine. I don't think I can stress how important that is, knowing that you still have an avenue to explore if the current ones aren't very fruitful. It sucks when a doctor is just done with you after your test results don't give a quick and clear answer.
She thinks I have viral pneumonia. So after my appointment, I drove the hour back home and had a chest X-Ray here at the hospital in town. The doc is closed today, so I won't know the results of that until Monday. Her being confident doesn't make it so, but she was pretty confident that it's viral pneumonia.
She also tested me for COVID antibodies while warning me that she is not confident about the accuracy of the test. She tested me for Lyme Disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, an Epstein Barr panel, my regular thyroid panel, and some adrenal work. I suspect all of the blood work will be fine because it always is, but we'll see. If all of these tests are fine, I'm getting referred to an infectious disease specialist.
I have to tell you that all this uncertainty about COVID testing is really disconcerting. I have never gone to the doctor before and gotten a test and then wondered whether the results are accurate. But here I am wondering if two kinds of different tests administered by two different entities days apart from each other could have given me false negatives. And if the antibodies test comes back negative, does that really mean I never had COVID? Reputable sites like the Mayo Clinic are saying both false positives and negatives are possible with this test, so who even knows?
So now I'm just waiting and crossing my fingers that I have viral pneumonia and can start getting treated and put this whole thing behind me. Thank you so much for your support and good thoughts; it's made this a lot more bearable. *hugs*
