you are told to google your health.

by Christina
(San Antonio, Texas)

I went to the doctor at the first of January. When I walked in the office I thought that the only reason that I was there was because I needed to be put on Thyroid medicine. Well when he walked in he sat down and started to tell me that I have protein in my urine and that I was going into kidney failure.

Well at 29 years old and having a mom that passed away from kidney failure 3 years prior this scared me more than I could ever say. When I asked him what it all meant I was told that I needed to go home and GOOGLE the information. I was amazed. I did not know what to say. Then he told me that he thought that I was pre-diabetic and that I needed to exercise more and change the way that I eat. Once again I was amazed.

I had just recently lost right at 75 pounds and could not believe that I was trying to get healthy by losing the weight and everything was going wrong. I asked him what it was that I was supposed to eat and he once again told me to go and GOOGLE it.

WHAT???? I did not think that GOOGLE was my doctor. I came home and became a massive researcher on the internet. I found so many different articles and read them all. I had to go back to the doctor less than a week later because I had gotten a UTI/Kidney infection. This time I brought a family member with me so that I was not alone. When the doctor walked in I told him what I had learned and he told me that I was right and that I was no where close to kidney failure. When I asked him why he had told me that, his answer was and I quote "At least it got you to quit smoking". Really because I had already started quitting and did not need someone telling me that I was losing organs to stop.

In the last couple of weeks I have still been very upset and have not known what to do. I know that my kidneys are not failing but the thought is still there and I am so scared. The point to this story is always make sure that you have a doctor that cares about your well being. As of now, I am NOT diabetic and I DO NOT have kidney disease. I have found another doctor that I have known for years and I know that he will not treat me the way that the first doctor did. I feel better knowing that things are going to be better now that I have a better doctor.

Thanks for listening and God Bless