After encountering the worst neurologist during my diagnosis (his name is Mark Silverman out of Milford, by the way), through word of mouth I found an amazing doctor. I loved this man and the way he ran his practice and his amazing office staff. In fact never told anyone I knew about him because I didn't want him to get too busy. He was my little neurology secret. Then my perfect doctor decided he wanted to retire, which is a patients nightmare. His replacement didn't knock my socks off. He was nice, did his job but didn't really do it for me. So I decided that since I was "in between" doctors that now would be a great time to find a specialist. Who knew what a freakin chore that would be.

I did a little but of research and found this website http://www.msneuroratings.com/, which I encourage ALL of you to use and update. It could be a great resource if more people use it. I also have a friend who sees a local neuro at the University of Michigan MS center, whos name is Dr. Irani. I work by this hospital and decided that U of M is pretty renowned and that he was the one I wanted to see. WELL...U of M lives up to its name and is snobby as ever. Not only did I have to have a referral, but there was also a process in which they could accept or deny you into their center for treatment. So from my files, they were going to decide if I was cool, or interesting, or messed up enough to see them? WTF. I was pretty pissed about this, how dare they consider denying me treatment...but then I realized...they can't treat everyone. I never found out what the grounds for denial were, but there is still a small part of me that thinks its pretty shitty. Not to mention that the wait time was over 3 months to get an appointment. Nevertheless, I still decided that I want to see this doctor so I send them all my files and information and waited.

In the mean time I called 2 other specialist both out of Detroit, Dr. Elias and Dr. Khan. I had read a lot of info on Dr. Khan and decided that he knew his shit enough for me to get an appointment with him. When I called there it was a totally different experience, more like "ok what day can you come in". I made an appointment, 2 months out and called it a day. When I was scheduling all of this it was far before my recent medical disaster, and while I was in the hospital I got a letter from U of M telling me when my appointment to see Dr. Irani was. Nice of them to call and see if I had availability that day, but who am I kidding, I'm not busy. So I called Dr. Khan and scheduled them for the same day to knock them out at the same time and get all of my little MS errands done. Once I got the U of M appointment, I canceled the one with Dr. Elias, he was a 3rd string pick anyway, also looked like he could be old, and further perpetuated my fear of my doctors retiring.

So I anxiously awaited this day, although I was re-donkulously weak the day of these appointments as it was after my surgery there was NO WAY I was canceling. So I go to see Dr. Irani first. I get to his office and its a lovely, nicely lit, comfortable office in which I didn't wait very long. When my name was called, my sister and I walked back to the exam room and the doctor was in there waiting for us. I know, right. After brief introductions, he basically says "tell me everything, starting at the beginning". So I did, I started back in 2006 with the numbness in the lower extremities, cruised on to my optic neuritis in 2007, and on home to the recent surgery, then with a little stop at family history. This doctor listened, took notes, and I could tell really knew his shit. He gave me his options of clinical trials, oral medications, current therapies, and almost everything I could have wanted to know. I spent almost 2 hours with this man picking each other's brains. He told me, as I had expected, that he thinks I should be on one of the CRABs, but that it was my choice and he would support whatever I wanted to do with MY body. He also said that there are medications that I could take that might treat my MS and Colitis, and was open to exploring those with me. He preformed the basic neurology tests, and we laughed at the things I couldn't do which wasn't much. I left feeling uplifted, awesome, like this guy could really be a great doctor who knows A LOT about MS and could really help me choose my route of care for the future.

I didn't even want to go to the next appointment because I felt like there was no way this guy could be topped. If there was ever a time to listen to my instincts, this would have been it. Not only was the hospital in downtown Detroit, it was damn near impossible to find parking. Once we found parking it was the scariest parking garage I've ever been in. It is night 100% of the time down there and its clearly where every rape and murder in Detroit must happen. It was terrifying. Once we got into the hospital, again the doctor itself was impossible to find, not to mention the elevators were acting up. I find the office, but there is no sign in sheet, and after I walk around with a dumbass look on my face finally one of the 3 lazy ass women behind the counter ask if they can help me. Apparently pacing in front of their desk wasn't a clear enough sign that I was in need of some assistance. The woman who signed me in was ruder than rude, then proceeded to tell me the doctor was running late, she didn't know how late, but he was definitely late.

Awesome.

So I wait in their waiting room which is surrounded by windows and hotter than hell, which is fantastic for an MS center. Who the fuck makes these decisions? So my name finally gets called, and its a small Indian woman who never introduced herself but I'm assuming she was a fellow? She takes me to an exam room in need of a severe update. I'm not trying to be snobby here but I'm pretty sure the medical industry has made some intense advances in exam room decor/furniture since when this room was built. I felt uncomfortable in there with its white cinder block walls and shit-tastic chairs. This woman was very cold, asked me a ton of questions, some of which seemed very irrelevant. She was all business, no smiles, no humor, no personality. She preformed the tests that Dr. Irani did, then told me she'd go get the doctor. So I waited at this point for her to take her notes, for him to read them, then him to come in and tell me that he couldn't tell me anything about my case without my MRI scans, which I was NOT instructed to bring. Then tells me that the first thing I need to do is get on Copaxone, and basically the option of not taking a medication....is not an option. Cool. Thanks for wasting my time.

Needless to say...I'm going with Dr. Irani. The experience in his office was like night and day with that of Dr. Khan.

I'm pumped to have a specialist now. One that I feel very confident in, and one that I feel like will actually listen to me...the patient. If you have a doctor that makes you uncomfortable, or tells you what to do...its time to move on. Remember the doctor works for you, and that its your body. If there is anything that I have learned through my recent hospitalization, its to ask questions about your treatment and the medications you're being given. I've learned that doctors don't really offer this information up, and that if you want to be informed on your care and our treatment you need to take control and make sure that you're getting all of the proper information.