Finding Local Doctors

It was very odd coming home on a Friday, March 20th and having the whole weekend with no one waking me every 4 hours to check my vitals, every 8 hours to check on my mental status, and every morning around 6am for blood draws... I almost was mad at the hospital for just throwing me out on my own after being in the hospital for 8 days straight with no privacy or free time. I had to wait until Monday morning to even start making phone calls and trying to find doctors to work with here Idaho. I kind of felt... alone - even surrounded by my whole family. (My husband and I and our two sons had moved into my parent's house at the beginning of February until we closed on our new house on March 20th - the day we drove home from Utah!) So, even with people all around me, I was scared. I had to learn how to balance my meds, make sure I was keeping up with everything, and honestly, I was worried I had forgotten how to be a mom! I was no longer breastfeeding my youngest and I figured my 2-year-old had forgotten me. Needless to say, everyone remembered me, getting back into a routine came with time, and I am just happy to be home now. 

Monday, March 23rd

I ended up being accepted as a patient by the same doctor that initially saw me in the ER when I was totally out of it, Kimberly Stutzman. She also had her own family practice and said she'd be happy to take me on after I got out of the hospital. I don't think she knew what she was taking on. Maybe she did, because she was the one that recognized that I needed to go see the Hepatologists at the University of Utah to begin with. Regardless, my mom and I both really liked her and I decided to go to her office. Unfortunately, Dr. Stutzman is very busy but her family practice has a handful of doctors under her that she oversees and knew I was coming in for my first appointment when I saw Dr. Sudha Subramanyam, we just call her Dr. Sudha. 

I had to start from the beginning with all my symptoms, talked about what was done in Utah, and then finally Dr. Stutzman came in and basically summarized everything that was said before we left Utah. There was still no diagnosis so we just keep treating my symptoms, keep running labs to check on my enzyme levels, and wait for the pending results from the PBC tests. We went over my prescriptions and scheduled an appointment for a week and a half out to do a blood draw to check my levels. I still have some ascites - nothing like while in the hospital - but it still makes me look bloated so they decided to have me try a water pill to see if that helps. 

With everything going on with the Coronavirus and Covid-19, getting the intestinal biopsy done wasn't the first priority, but they gave me a referral to Idaho Gastroenterology Associates to get established as a patient. 

Wednesday, April 1st

I wanted to get in ASAP to get my blood drawn for the Hepatologists in Utah so I had to schedule with a new doctor again - this time Dr. Derek Kohlhase. Again, I had to start from the beginning and we ended at the same conclusion. I still hadn't heard from the Hepatologists in Utah or the GI doctor so I reiterated that I was still just waiting. I got my labs drawn and went on my way. No new info.