Skip to main content

Part 5...Settling for the new normal

 March 31, 2023

TESTOSTERONE, FASTING: 123.8 (123-814)

WHAT!!!! Well this makes no sense. To be honest I had finished my Clomid prescription a few weeks prior to this blood work. None the less I was surprised, disappointed and concerned. Unfortunately I had not experienced any symptom relief while taking the higher dose but to have my Testosterone levels decrease in that amount time was very frustrating. Was I going to have to settle for this new normal? This opened the conversation back up regarding Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) and of course the associated risks that it had. I wasn't satisfied with these options and started my quest to learn more about chronic low T.  I soon realized that maybe I needed to branch out from my PCP and get established with an endocrinologist. Endocrinologists are doctors who focus on hormones which control such things as metabolism, blood pressure, cholesterol, hunger, thirst, body temperature and more. 

Welcome to the world of endocrinology...Here it was the beginning of April and being told that the first available new patient visit was July 12! I now had some serious things to consider. Do I play the game, wait it out and pretend like nothing was wrong? I certainly hadn't let this issue control my day to day functioning but you start to think differently when there is a clear problem that has been discovered and can be/should be addressed.  

Facebook, oh Facebook...If you truly do not think that our phones keep track of our searches and/or conversations, you are wrong. Shockingly I was now being bombarded with daily advertisement for TRT options. For the most part I paid no attention to the attempts however, one company struck a nerve with me. The company was Core Medical Group and one of their advertisements was focusing on military members and the increase of chronic low Testosterone being found. "After years of operating in fight-or-flight mode due to stress in their careers, veterans may experience chronic low testosterone". Now for those wanting to remind me that I am part of the Air Force Reserves, commonly known as the "Chair Force", my career as a pre-hospital flight nurse certainly would be considered a profession with increased stress. 

On a whim I took that next step, filled out the online application and waited for response from Core Medical. Within 24hrs the phone calls started. Fortunately it didn't take long to recognize the legitimacy of the practice and I was immersed in the culture of TRT. 

"Have faith in your intuition and listen to your gut feeling" ~ Ann Cotton

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Part 10...Clearer picture

May 11, 2023 Fortunately for you the reader, this is where the journey starts to slow down as I entered the waiting game. My inpatient hospitalization was about 72hours and by that time I was itching to get back home. Repeat blood work showed no great concerns and the MRI results needed to be discussed with Neurosurgery.  On this date my wife and I sat alongside a local Neurosurgeon who also happened to be the head of the Mobile Stroke Unit for UR Medicine (God knows what you need at any time, and so, He will bring just the right people to offer you what you need). I can only hope that other professions share the sense of family and strong bonds that we have within the medical field. Even though we couldn't get the answers to all of our questions, empathy, friendship and just having the ability to be comfortable enough to talk about our concerns was more than we could have asked for.  There is a reason I chose nursing, primarily to be an advocate for my patients and...
Post a Comment
Read more

Part 7...The Brian inside

Before we go any further, I truly had no idea the kind of response/interest I would receive regarding this blog. In all honesty, I didn't care who read them, or if you happened to like reading about this journey. This outlet, for people who haven't blogged, is a very therapeutic/cathartic way to get out all of the voices that play havoc in my head. It allows me to formulate my emotions in a safe and healthy manner. For anyone who has a need to express themselves, this is certainly one way to do so.  Having said that, I thank you for joining me on this journey and I thank all of you who have individually texted me in regards to my misspelling of BRAIN. Funny thing...When trying to type BRAIN in my phone while attempting to communicate with my family, that little thing called "autocorrect" kept changing the word. I can't say that I know too many Brians, so I am not too sure why autocorrect would assume that. After multiple attempts at trying to spell brain and havin...
Post a Comment
Read more