My new doctor seemed surprised to see me the other day; he thought we were going to do labs, and told me which ones he likes to do every three months or so.
I told him I had made an appointment with my eye surgeon (instead of his referral) for my suspected eye problem. He urged me to go ahead with that.
I spoke to him about some of my stresses. He asked me why I don't look at the bright side. I told him that a turning point was the day I first saw him, when he asked: What else is going on? Showed me another MD in my new state values the patient viewpoint.
He looked again at my file update he was holding - (he likes patients to fill out their main ills and hurts at each appointment.) Then he said some new magic words:
You're good.
And I said "For my age..."
And he said: "Not for your age. You're good."
And I thought--Wow he thinks I'm healthy, at least sorta healthy. Off to the lab where the lab tech and I laughed a lot.
The next morning the nurse called to say:
You are no longer in danger of diabetes!
Went to the eye doctor, got a list of to-do at home. Also an Rx that made me call the pharmacist twice in a mild panic. Pharmacist said cut open the capsule and stir the medicine into a mashed banana. Panic stopped.
Today, thinking of that week of modern medicine, I thought: Yes, I am pretty healthy. And all those people helped me move to more health.
The punch line: For some contrary reason, the idea that I'm pretty healthy makes me determined to take even better care of myself.
I wish you health.
