The Wait is Over – I am at a Happy Place

…

My husband passed his stress test and got the cardio clearance for his DOT card, the permission to drive commercial trucks, which he sometimes needs to do when a driver calls off in the morning.

It took them almost a week to put this in writing, and getting it faxed over was a completely different story, but it’s done, and we are very relieved.

And so a ‘medical year’ full of surgeries and procedures comes soon to an end, and we are stronger, healthier, and happier than we were at the beginning of 2025, even our dog Patches agrees, with now clean teeth and fewer skin tags.

The cheerful, gray picture above was taken at my doctor’s office, in the waiting area. I had two appointments on one day. First, with my endocrinologist to adjust the synthetic hormone dose that I have to take now for the rest of my life because we retired my thyroid in February, then, one hour later, with my Rheumatologist to discuss further treatments for my autoimmune disorder.

This time, my husband came with me. “Do you need a witness?” he joked when I asked him to come along. “Perhaps,” I laughed, and he nodded.

…

…

We’ve always gone together to important doctors’ consultations. It stopped during COVID—and after—but now it’s time to unite again. “Two sets of ears hear more than one,” that’s an Austrian saying, which I didn’t understand when I was a child. Now I do. So much information, back and forth between doctor and patient, you can easily overhear something, or forget to ask a question you really wanted to ask. I always have a questionnaire with me. I write down what I want to discuss because I know time is limited (so is my memory sometimes).

The young nurse looked at me when she called my name, and we both got up. “Do you need a chaperone?” she asked politely, and when I shook my head, she frowned a bit, like she questioned why my husband was joining me. “He is here to make sure I don’t misbehave.” A stunned look from the nurse, a chuckle from my husband.

Why did I want him there? Because he will never fully understand what an autoimmune disorder is, or what a chronic pain disease feels like, and how could he? I hope he never will experience it; he has enough on his plate the way it is. The questions doctors ask us, and the answers we give them, are different from the conversations we have at home. I went with him to his cardiologist, because I am the one who does the cooking. I am the nagging wife. I need to know what to nag about. I suppose at a certain age, it’s all logical.

“I am at a happy place,” I told my Rheumatologist. She didn’t react. I like her; she is a good doctor, but has selective hearing, like most of them. I repeated my happiness statement five minutes later and a third time, when she asked about my medications and the doses. (Why are they asking this, they have it all on their screen.)

Finally, she looked at me, “You don’t want me to change a thing, right?” Big smile on my face, “Yes, please, no changes, I am good.” Every time she changes something, it rattles the boat. I am tired of the boat rattling. It’s my boat! There is always something new she wants to try or a different approach. This time, I didn’t want it, and she got the message. Pain level? Hardly any IF I eat right and move a lot—which I do, ask my watch, it knows it all.

For the next meeting, with my encronologist, I had prepared my husband. “I will probably ask her for a referral to another doctor because I don’t think we get along.” Mr. Chuckle chuckled.

But to my absolute surprise, the meeting went very well. She sat down on a rolling chair, across from me, face to face, not even 3 feet between us. She asked questions and she listened. We had eye contact the whole time. Finally, she heard me. “I feel good, but not great. We need to change that, I want to feel great again!”

My bloodwork shows the problem; T3 and T4, the thyroid hormone levels, one is way too low, the other way too high. New approach? “Yes, please.”

My favorite moment at all the doctor’s offices: When we were waiting, we sat side by side, shoulder to shoulder, and we both tilted our heads toward each other, leaned quietly against each other. No words were needed!

The wait is over. We are healthier than last year, healthier than we were at the beginning of the year. Life on our end is good, and as long as I don’t watch the news, I am at a happy place.