What Would Jared Do?
Earlier in the summer, parts of my head and face started going numb. My internist immediately ordered a brain MRI to rule out all of the real nasty stuff…tumor, MS, stroke. There was one pattern of oddity, but the radiologist had no clue. So I waited for six weeks (which I think was pretty fast from what I have heard) and got into the neurologist. And I love her.
I love her for many reasons. She is thorough. She takes time to talk to me and read between the lines, even when I don’t realize there is context there. And she has a sense of humor. I am thankful that I found a good doctor, just by chance. And in her 50s, it seems she still loves what she does (even if she hates the lousy Medicare reimbursement rates by which she has to abide). She had so many ideas and ordered so many tests, she actually found out what is wrong.
My daughter knows I have not been feeling well, and I was excited today to tell her that the neurologist discovered that my body was no longer absorbing B12, and that was hurting my nerves. I explained that B12 was found in meat, but that even though I ate meat, none of the vitamin was getting into my body. So for the rest of my life I will take pills that dissolve under my tongue, or shots. I feel very good about that. My greatest fear was that the neurologist wouldn’t find anything “wrong.”
After being very supportive and thinking for a few minutes, my almost-12-year-old suggested that rather than pills or shots, we should just eat more often at Subway. It was one of those proud parental moments. By connecting the meat on the sandwiches at Subway to my B12 deficiency, she came up with a great way to be able to eat more often at Subway, her favorite eating establishment. She is learning to work the system. And though I can’t tell her I’m proud of that, it gave me a bit of relief to know that she is somehow preparing for the big, cruel, cold world.
And the more I think of it, it isn’t such a bad idea. I could then launch a career as a spokesperson for Subway, showing the sandwich benefits to those suffering from Peripheral Neuropathy.
Jared…move over.
