Review💪🏻

I had my review appointment with Dr L and it went better than expected. As usual Dr L was supportive and gave me the time to talk through my current fears and concerns about my health etc. Since the medication increase it has helped in terms of coping with my mood and trying to cope with everything that's going on health wise. She used this appointment to look at both my mental health and endometriosis which was helpful as she could understand how the two conditions affect me. The one thing she did do was ask questions and she wasn't scared to ask the questions that no other doctors had explored before like what does a day of low mood consist of and what it's like to experience that. It was hard to describe but I tried my best and she already had an idea as she'd read my diary from the last appointment and just wanted to hear me verbalise what it was like. She really came down to a level in which she made me feel like she wanted to imagine what that place was like for me and how things were at the moment. She gave a lot of reassurance about if things do get to a point where the mood is low and pain is bad I am able to contact the surgery to make an emergency appointment and be seen that day. She gave her definition of emergency and told me that it's not all about chest infections but also about mental health and chronic illness as well. She gave me the impression that she really does want to help and that she was actually interested. When we spoke about the endometriosis I was able to tell her what it's like living with it and the physical and emotional aspect of the condition. I told her life feels like it's a standstill at the moment and that I'm too scared to plan ahead. She told me she can understand why I feel this way and living with an illness which is so unpredictable is hard because you never know if it's going to be a good day or a bad day. She told me that my health is important and it's okay to have to cancel plans or call in sick for work because my main priority should be looking after me and if they care enough that they'd understand. She said the next steps are to have a good conversation with the consultant and start a treatment plan and get a good idea on what next steps are and long term options. I told her medically they've tried a lot of things which have been unsuccessful and I could be looking at surgery but that's risky due to my age and fertility and I admitted I was scared. She described how things must be right now as " a rollercoaster - when it goes down it always goes back up again at some point." She said it's okay to feel what I'm feeling just now because what I'm dealing with is hard and for any 18 year old that would be a difficult thing to deal with. The one thing that she did was validate how I was feeling and she is actually listening to me and that makes me feel as if someone is on my side which is good. Dr L is an amazing GP and even though it has taken me a while to find a good GP I think I've found the right one who will support me through this shit time.