some winter, we'll all be under the retinal display

the nurse practitioner called me back. she talked to the doctor and they think i should see an endocrinologist, but the only one around is in austin and is only accepting new *pediatric* medicaid patients. i'll see if there's another way in because i absolutely MUST see an endocrinologist. all signs point to that being where the truth lies, where all problems are solved, and where the roads are paved with gold, where chimichangas dance in the street and holidays happen all year 'round. since i can't see one right now, they're sending me to see a rheumatologist which they seem to think is the next best thing. the nurse practitioner has managed to somehow get me an appointment with a rheumatologist in temple for August 8th even though the nice, useless people at Scott and White told me that the only rheumatologists were located in austin and the first available appointment was in october. sounds like someone wasn't doing their homework or looking out for their patient's best interest. bippy (lizzy to most of you) took me to see my general practitioner today. she wasn't nearly as evasive as usual. apparently, bippy brings good luck. she told me my ultrasound came back negative for gallstones BUT i appear to have some hepatic granulomas (liver bumps or whatever). my bloodwork is also showing some elevated liver enzymes, but she assures me these are usually nothing unless the patient has hepatitis. i'm testing negative for hepatitis, so we're assuming its nothing, granulomas or no. i don't know what hepatic granulomas indicate and she says there's nothing i can do about them, so i'm doing some research. research is almost like doing nothing. as for the "acid reflux", i told her the prilosec made it worse but the pancreatic enzyme pills made it better. she sent in some bloodwork to check my pancreatic functioning and gave me a referral to see a gastroenterologist. she seemed to think they'd want to put a camera down my throat. i'm not sure what that will accomplish and i plan to ask them for a hepatabiliary scan as well. the woman who recommended the enzyme pills said she takes them because her immune system is attacking her pancreas and her doctor was only able to discover this by doing a scan involving radioactive dye injected into the bloodstream called a hepatabiliary scan aka HIDA scan aka gallbladder scan. like satan, it is known by many names, but i don't care, i want one anyway. after six months i'm finally starting to feel like we're getting somewhere. even if that somewhere turns out to be nowhere at least i'll have more test results to prove... absolutely nothing.