Trusting My Gut: A Journey with Chronic Illness

One vestigial organ down from my total count this morning. I'm happy I trusted my gut today, despite the mind-frick that chronic illness has done to me. It's so hard to know when to draw the line when you're chronically ill and have constant pain and a litany of symptoms that can always be attributed or excused by your chronic diagnosis, anxiety and depression. I've been feeling abnormally crummy the past two weeks and blamed it on med withdrawals/changes and my thyroid disease. Today I woke up with horrible abdominal and back pain. I toughed it out at home alone for hours setting and resetting artificial deadlines where I swore to myself I'd go to urgent care if I didn't feel better. I had absolute dread/anxiety knowing that going to urgent care meant facing an unknown number of medical professionals and relying on hope that they'd take me seriously and not dismiss my pain as thyroid disease related. Or having a Dr. tell me that I was *literally* just full of shit with bloating 😣💩 But 12 hours after my first check in, three providers' location changes and a lucky open OR spot, I'm finally home and in bed after an appendectomy. Even with the shuffling from UC to ER to OR and all the panic and waiting, I'm just happy it was a straight forward diagnosis. "Uncomplicated Appendicitis" via the CT at the ER. I don't know what I would have done having to argue for a further diagnosis. Turns out the only one I had to argue with was myself. Blessed be the chronic illness gods today. I'm going to eat ice cream for days in their names. 🥳🤒🤕😷🥳