Diagnosis: A Lifetime of Diagnoses


Photo by Kinga Cichewicz on Unsplash


The list keeps getting longer.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Depression
ADHD
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
Hypothyroidism
Sleep Apnea
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Seasonal Allergies
History of Kidney Stones and frequent kidney infection
History of Abnormal Cervical Cells
Borderline Diabetes (due to PCOS)

These are the things that show up as diagnoses on my visit summaries from my various doctors. It seems like every year I get a new one. When I was in my early twenties I thought I was healthy. I probably had most of these problems, I just hated going to the doctor, so I ignored them and pretended to be healthy.

Sometimes I feel like a reject when I go to the doctor and ramble off my list of symptoms. Good grief, they should probably just take me out back and put me out of my misery. But you know what? I’m thankful for these diagnoses. I’m not thankful that I have the health problems, but I’m thankful that doctors have finally started figuring out what’s wrong with me. Now we can work on making me better.

I’ll never get rid of these diagnoses. They’ll follow me around like a black cloud for the rest of my life. Even if I eat right and lose weight I’ll still be borderline diabetic because of the polycystic ovarian syndrome, and that’s the only one on the list that can be cured. But, I’ll take my medications. I’ll continue following up with various physicians who specialize in each area. We’ll keep tackling problems as they arise.

I'm not alone in this fight. 40 million Americans suffer from anxiety and depression.  20 million Americans have thyroid disease. 1 in 10 women have PCOS. If you're suffering from health problems and you feel alone, know that you definitely are not.

And they're nothing to be ashamed of.


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