a plea to my doctors

I am trying my best to get to the bottom of my symptoms, but I can't do it myself. I need you. I'm pleading with you:

• Please help me find out what's wrong with me. I miss being able to work, study and rock climb. I miss going out with friends for dinner and drinks on Friday nights. I miss my old life. Something happened between then and now - help me find out what happened.

• Please don't tell me that I need to learn to live with my symptoms. I am doing my best to cope, but until you can tell me what's wrong with me, I don't want to believe I will feel this way forever.

• Please don't get annoyed that I ask for copies of my lab reports and ask you questions about flagged lab values. I am a curious person, desperate to find an answer. To you these questions are an annoyance, for me - this is my life slipping away.

• Please don't patronize me. If you have something to say, please say it to me in person - not in your follow up report to my PCP.

I need you more than you can know. Please don't give up on me.