... doctor choice

[Guest guest]

,

I think it's time. Choose one of the doctors you've been considering

and take the plunge. Given that you can fly anywhere, you have a

number of good choices. You're clearly making yourself crazy. And

believe me, I've been there. (A psychiatrist prescribed an

anti-anxiety medicine for me this spring. I've taken a few of the

pills, and for me, this is huge. I usually won't take Tylenol unless

I have a headache so severe that I'm nauseous. Meaning, I take maybe

2 Tylenol per year. I've never made it through a bottle of 12 Tylenol

before its expiration date!)

I don't think there IS a single, " best " doctor choice here. If there

were, we'd all be headed to that doctor. Rather, it seems that there

are many competent doctors to choose from. They all have slightly

different styles. One of the problems is that little serious medical

research has been done on AS. There's a lot that no one really knows

for sure. For example, some doctors choose to use balloons, others

don't ... because there's no clear statistical evidence to suggest

whether it's the best choice. This is true for so many aspects of

treatment. There's a lot of anecdotal evidence at work here. Just

choose one of the doctors you've got it narrowed down to, and go for

it. Don't look back.

One thing that's probably true: if your outcome is good, you'll be

glad with your choice. If the surgery doesn't work, you'll second

guess yourself. From what I can tell of you, this will be true

REGARDLESS of which doctor you choose now. Finally, keep in mind that

extreme stress and anxiety can have some nasty effects on our bodies,

so you may be inadvertently shooting yourself in the foot with all

your worrying here.

Sorry if this sounds harsh. I DON'T mean it to. It's hard on e-mail

to get the " tone " right.

Kim