I like to go and see my nephrologist. He is realistic, honest and punctual. Punctual? I hear you say. Yes, you heard it right. I have been seeing him for over five years now and he has never been more than five minutes late. But that is not what I like most about him.
What I like most about him is that he brings out the best in me. When I first started seeing him he gave me a list of instructions and then asked me whether or not such a thing would be feasible, because if I wasn't going to do it then we should find another treatment regime. This is one of the few times I have liked a doctor right from the start.
The nephrologist I was seeing before this one basically laid down the law saying that this is what I had to do and there was no way around it. He even gave me instructions that I knew I was never going to follow. In the end it put me on a mini self destruct pattern as I would show him by not following his instructions. I ended up only hurting myself.
But my new doctor is great. Instead of feeling like the naughty school boy kept back for detention with Dame Snap. I feel like I am part of a partnership, working together to achieve a common goal. The doc puts some suggestions on the table, and we discuss them in a civilised, intelligent manner. We then decide if it will fit in with my life style, and if it does, away we go.
On the down side he does insist I do a 24 hour urine collection every six months which aren't much fun, but hey, when you have an illness sometimes you've gotta do what you gotta do. Another plus was that he understood exactly why I wanted to do the stem cell transplant. He even wrote a letter to the doctors at Northwestern saying, and I quote "There is no renal contra-indication to an autologous stem cell transplant."
What a champion. If only it was always that easy. Until next time, stay well:)
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