Randomramblings

I've been to the cardiologist and am quite disappointed with the visit. To be more exact: I'm healthy and that's good news. The bad part about it is that doctors treat me like a hypochondriac.

When I entered the cardiologist's office he asked me what the problem was. I explained. He said, that judging from the ECG, I was healthy. I replied that it was not me who thought giving me a referral was a good idea. I told him I suggested my personal physician that more tests (especially a thorough blood test) should be done before I was sent there and that my doctor said this was not the usual route. She said my blood is fine and that she needs to be sure nothing's wrong with my heart.

Anyway, the cardiologist was impressed (or what?) because he agreed to do more tests. He felt my pulses and I felt stupid (I'm not dying and my pulse is OK, besides he had an exact heart rate printed on the ECG). But I'd give anything to discover what the problem is and I was quiet. He felt my jugular notch, he listened to all the heart valves. He repeated that I was OK. I shrugged my shoulders. I told him I didn't feel anything was wrong with my heart either, but that something had to be wrong. I told him that an iron test was suggested to me - at this point he manically laughed and asked who suggested this. I replied it was my running trainer and he smiled benignly and perhaps he thought that as they are generally considered clueless (with regard to medicine) such lapse in judgment might be of understanding. I didn't break it to him that actually, dear doc my iron level is seriously low as he suggested even before that that my Polar heart rate monitor was faulty. I didn't care to correct him that to this date I used 4 different makes and models of the Polar. I ran alone, so there was no interferrence from other monitors and that all these produced quite the same results.

Anyway, after that - perhaps as the last proof of my health he used ultrasound apparatus and the Doppler measuring techinques and examined my heart again - from all sides, all valves, aorta, liver and spleen. Nothing seemed to be wrong.

He again suggested I should check the accuracy of my heart rate monitor and by this time I was so embittered that I almost said: "Oh, all four? - You mean all four? And next time my doctor gives me a stupid referral to someone I think I don't need to see, I should just ignore her? They've been telling me for as long as I've been to med school that I'm still clueless and that only qualified doctors are worth listeing to. So as a medical student should I oppose my doctor, tell her she's mistaken? Oh, and by the way, cardio man did you not know that apparently erythrocytes are degraded faster in runners (supposedly because of the impact of the surface) than in other sports e.g. cycling? Did you not know I eat very little meat and almost never read meat? Do you not know that I used to drink vast amounts of green tea, which is rich in tannins and they're iron chelators? Did you know one can be low on iron BEFORE they actually become anaemic. Do I have to run for another half a year, develop anaemia and only then you won't consider me a hypochondriac?

I used to think people made up stories about doctors who wouldn't listen, who only knew one way to deal with every patient and if the patient didn't fit into their concepts, they just dismissed him as healthy? After having seen more of Klinični center and doctors in general, I now know there are exceptionally good doctors and also very mediocre doctors, incapable of adjusting to the patient's needs. It also bothers me that doctors consider me normal, just because what they exaimined me for was within the range considered normal. I have no record of my previous iron or TSH levels and therefore no way of knowing whether these values have shifted upwards or downwards. But the doctors - they just consider them normal.

I'm not arguing I should be treated where my results are normal, but am just saying it's preposterous to suggest I'm the same as ever have been. In fact, I'm not. I haven't done much for my body for the past two years and the change to a lifestyle where I jog 3 to 4 times a week for about 40 minutes is a big one. I increased the demands on my body but eat just just the same as I always did. It bothers me because doctors consider me as a regular couch poatato, which I'm certainly not. I don't have problems sitting behind my desk, I have problems running and all they do is check my heart in a sedentary, stationary position. I never had problems before I started running - I have them now.

I will take my results to my personal physician tomorrow and will ask her what she thinks about my iron levels. I sincerely hope she won't be offended by that fact that I decided to take the test by myself, as I want her to cooperate and most importantly I want to run, not just jog and hope there is a solution to what I'm experiencing. But there will be no solution of the problem if my doctor doesn't cooperate.