Apologies in advance for being vague where details are involved- this is all very new to me and I'm just now starting to wrap my brain around it.
Long story short: the last month or so has been excruciating for me, medically speaking. I had a few serious conditions that all appeared to be unrelated, and I'd more or less given up on ever being or feeling “normal” again.
Two doctors, one specialist, and one surgery later, the diagnosis was strange but… Kind of comforting.
All the separate problems I had turned out to be under the same umbrella. I have an autoimmune disease, which likely came to be in my teens, but which was unrecognized until about five years ago.
It's very surreal. I could make a connection between my chronically bad teeth and my chronic depression but it was abstract and speculative. Now it's real.
I'm one of the people who've been left behind by the ACA. I don't have insurance and I can't afford to purchase it. But I was incredibly fortunate to have health care professionals who cared and didn't just dismiss me outright. The internist was worried about recurring problem X, but sent me to a specialist for recurring problem Y. They had a long conversation and dug deep into my chart.
Wham! They found the problem, an obscure, only recently discovered autoimmune disease. I have every. Single. Symptom.
I've written about my mental health issues here before, so I feel comfortable sharing this: before surgery yesterday the surgeon asked if I have depression, suicidal tendencies, and/or substance abuse issues (among other things). I was prepped for surgery so couldn't really respond other than to say “yeah,” but from the corner of my eye I saw my wife's heading nodding up and down so hard I thought she might break her neck.
The needle entered my skin and the surgery began, and all I could think was “maybe I'll actually survive.”
And it looks like I will.
What a long, strange trip it's been.