One even said to me, 'You aren't autistic. You're a woman, and they don't have autism! My new insurance allowed me to see who I wanted without a referral.
My now husband has a friend who is a dermatologist, and we met up with her for a wedding. He asked her to check it out, and when I told her about it and showed it to her profusely thanking her for doctoring off the clock , she told me to go get a punch biopsy. I had my pathology results within a week and was told I have cutaneous T-cell lymphoma — a rare skin cancer!! Again, I was able to see a specialist quickly and get treatment. Now that I'm managing my hormones better, my 'mood swings' are less dramatic, and when I do get super down, I can look at the calendar and tell myself to hold out for X more days.
The doctor at the HPTP clinic who put in the antibiotic port said he never should have survived that. The dermatologist then explained that taking the antibiotic in question would result in the same result if taken again. He also adamantly suggested I immediately dump my ignorant primary care physician. The next day, I went to my GP again and refused to leave his office until he referred me to a cardiologist.
He was quite irritated with me but finally gave in. After the test was done, the cardiologist came in and pulled up a chair to explain to me that I had stage 3 heart failure.
Had my gallbladder removed about a month ago, and I'm now having other issues. But I'll be discussing them with the surgeon before the GI gets involved. She checked the pressure points, which were the only diagnostic tools available, and agreed. Nevertheless, it was another 25 years before I was allowed suitable pain medication to go with over-the-counter acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Meanwhile, fibromyalgia is recognized as a real thing and people are even allowed to go on disability with it.
