Tracy,

      I understand all about military doctors! When I was diagnosed at
17, my father was still in the Air Force. Plus we were stationed in
Japan, at the time. we never, ever saw the same doctor twice and never
got an explanation for anything. As a matter of fact, the dr. never
talked to me directly. He told my mother and she never told me anything.
They ran all sorts of tests and I was scared the whole time. When I left
home at 19, they gave me a prescription and told me to find a dr. That's
all. I found one who never explained anything, even when I asked
questions. And he was supposed to be a specialist. I finally joined a
HMO and got a regular dr. But, guess what. he never my questions either!
The dr. I am seeing now does answer questions, but not fully. He also
diagnosed me with fibromyalgia, but that's all about that. Dr.s don't
seem to want to give answers. And when I go in with info I got off the
internet, they tell me not to believe what I find there. I am not a
child at 43, but thay make me feel as if I am by not letting me know
what is going on.

DianeQ
in RI

Tracy Utsinger wrote:
>
> Taree,
>         If I would of known, what I know now, I would of asked my doctor.  Back then, I was under the impression that "doctor knows best". I never questioned what I was told.  I'm sure there are others on this list that started out the same way.  On another note, I was diagnosed by a military doctor.  For those that have experienced the military, you usually never see the same doctor twice. Therefore I've never been able to establish a relationship with a physician since my diagnosis.  I have moved 9 times in six years.  When things were explained to me, as I'm sure they were, I was probably so deep in "fog" that there was no way I could remember which number was supposed to be high or low.  Now , since we are out of the military, I have to wait 6 months to a year under our health insurance for a "pre-existing condition" if I want it to be covered.  If only I would of known, I sure would of requested to see an outside specialist.  I just thought I was "supposed to feel this way" that there was nothing I could do "different".  Now that I know that the doctor doesn't always "know best", I sure will do things differently.  But for right now, this list is giving me 90% of my information.  I am sorry if I have offended anyone by asking alot of questions, probably questions that I should know the answers to.  But I am still learning, be patient :)
> Tracy