A Bump in the Wellness Road

I became a runner. I was a runner. I felt amazing.

It may have taken a pandemic to make my physical well-being a priority, but I finally found the time and was so happy that I was consistently making time for me. For far too long I had to neglected myself, so it felt really good to start prioritizing me a little bit.

However, after visiting my doctor for my annual wellness physical, my experienced a bump in my wellness journey. As she assessed me, she made the comment about how well everything looked including my blood pressure, my weight, my ECG, and all other assessments, everything was ideal. In addition, she was happy I had started to consistently work out. She put in lab orders and had the labs drawn prior to leaving her office. I felt good. A few days later, the lab results came in. I looked at them in my online patient chart. They looked mostly normal, though I was not familiar with all of them. There were some values out of range, but I didn't think much of it - I felt good. I received a message shortly after from my doctor, she wanted to order additional labs to be done. She put the orders in and I went and got the labs drawn. Again, the results came in and this time, but when my doctor messaged me about the results this time around, she advised me that she was a little concerned and that I needed to go and see a hematologist. I asked for a recommendation, but didn't know what other questions to ask. Thankfully, we had a good family friend who was a renowned Hematologist and he gave me a recommendation for a practicing Hematologist. I called and made an appointment for 2 months later and the wait began....

During this time I didn't know what to think. I reached out to a good doctor friend and inquired with him about possibilities and he told me not to worry. He looked at my labs and tried to reassure me that all could be fine that they were just labs and a moment in time. However, I had nothing but time to think and think about what may be going on in my body and having come from a long line of worriers, that is exactly what I began to do.

I had just turned 40, felt and looked better than I had in years, and yet I had something concerning enough going in my body to send me to a hematologist. When you Dr. Google what a hematologist does and what they treat, it really opens up the can of worms to worry more about what might be going on. Of course I did this and of course my mind went crazy with the possibilities. Waiting for the first visit with the hematologist was a little brutal - I had to go through the holidays with my girls and family and attempt to act as if there was nothing bothering me. The new year came and I had made it to the other side of the holidays and finally, the visit with the hematologist was here. I arrived to the visit, completed the new patient paperwork, and patiently waited to be seen. Finally, I felt that I would get some answers. But, would it really be that quick or simple? We would soon find out....