That sounds like the kind of doctor I want, Cailin! I think I've been spoiled by having a rheumatologist that is just like that. I've been seeing him for years now, and the first thing he did was test for absolutely everything he could think of... and then a few more tests when they all came back clear, and so far, even though he keeps running tests and occasionally thinks of something new to try, the only thing that shows in my blood tests is that there's some sort of inflammatory process going on.

When it came time to decide on a long-term treatment plan, he told me everything about the three different drugs I could choose from... I knew how long I could expect to wait before each drug had an effect, I knew what side effects I could expect, what dosages and treatment plans I could expect to follow with each of them. Then it was up to me to decide which way to go. For short term relief, he accepted that I was extremely reluctant to go with one particular drug, even though it would have been one of the best options for me, and he helped me hold out for as long as possible before I had no choice... then he taught me how to adjust my dosages so that I could be on the lowest possible dose needed for relief, and I knew what steps I needed to follow each time I needed to increase/decrease a dose. And then we discovered that the usual steps in increasing dosages were too big for me and we had to go slower... It's more like he's taught me how to manage my disease rather than him managing the disease for me.

I know it's a slightly different situation with the whole PCOS and TTC thing... but I want a specialist like that!

BW