BUCKING AUTHORITY

My hubby and I are not ones to question authority much, but ever so often, you just gotta.  I'm gonna do it tomorrow, when I accompany my hubby to his cardiologist appointment, which I don't normally do. I just have to. For George and Theda. And for my kids.

I'm so dang nervous about it, I've been practicing what I'm going to say -- actually wrote it down in my journal this morning, in the form of a letter. Thought maybe I'd run it by you, see what you thought. 'Kay? Alrighty then, here goes:

Dear Doctor X,

I don't know if John has shared this with you, but we watched his dad have stroke after stroke, and it just about destroyed his family. We were the only relatives close by, so we got a front row seat. My kids went from having the sweetest Pawpaw in the world to having a mean, hateful one, and then to having, well, a zombie. Grandma Theda went from being a spunky, fun-loving artist to being someone who did nothing but cry. As you can well imagine, we'd do just about anything to keep them from having to go down that path again. We know you've done everything you can think of to get John's blood pressure under control, and that you are just as frustrated as we are that nothing seems to work. It got me to thinking.

When we were first trying to have kids, I had three miscarriages in a row, all right at three months. Several different OB/GYNs did that test where they run dyes through your uterus and watch it on a screen. All said the same thing. "It's just bad luck. There's nothing wrong. Keep trying." Finally someone led us to the head of a teaching hospital in Houston, who specialized in fertility problems. He performed the very same test, took one look at it, and said "Well there's your problem! You have a septate uterus. There's a very thin wall in there that has turned it into a duplex, if you will, and your babies just flat ran out of room. All I have to do is get rid of that wall, and you'll be squirtin' out kiddos in no time!" (yes, a bit of paraphrasing on my part) Less than four years later I had my two precious children.

So, here's what I'm wondering. Are there doctors out there who specialize in hypertension? Who deal with nothing but that, day in, and day out? If so, can you help us find one of the best? So we can just go have a talk with them, to see if they have any other tricks up their sleeves? 'Cause here's the thing. If John does end up heading down this path, I really need to know that at least we tried every single trick in the book. For my kids. If I sat here and left even one stone unturned, well, I just wouldn't be able to live with myself. Capiche?

With all due respect,
Becky Lane

P.S. -- to you, not him -- I have recently been told, by the very same friend who solved the miscarriage dilemma, that there are, in fact, hypertension specialists, but Hubby doesn't want to piss this fellow off and risk losing a good cardiologist. I thought maybe this would put the ball in his court, make it his idea, so he doesn't have to lose face. What do you think?