Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Hashimoto and the Unbearable Lightness of Direction



Never need an umbrella when you're me!


So yesterday I made the trip into the City of Bureaucracy to show them the docs that will enable Social Security to take my word for it, and it went well all the way to the building itself, amazing considering my directional challenges, then as I parked the car, this building blessedly has a huge parking lot, unusual for the city, there was a cloudburst.

I had no umbrella since it wasn't even raining when I left home, oh well, plan ahead, and struggled through zero visibility getting all soaked, to find the door. Went around two sides of the building, encountering locked doors on all sides, until I ended up in the employment office.

What a sad place, full of desperate, frightened people who were in such a state they couldn't remember their social security numbers, how I sympathized with that state, and a nice official there explained kindly that I was completely around the wrong side of the building....she led me to a back door that I left by to continue on my trek, and I finally found the right door. The thing is that it looks exactly like a loading dock, all metal ramps and scaffolding, to re-engineer an old building to create ramps for accessibility, I suppose. So I'd walked right past it not recognizing it as a door, duh.

So once I actually found the door, the rest went just fine, the docs were examined, accepted, and I was sent away all set. But I am so grateful that I live in a society where the ability to find your way around is not considered a major factor of intelligence. Heck, if I were Masai, I'd be considered a poor little thing that you had to be kind to and take care of...

Then in the evening, the endocrinologist got back to me with the results of my thyroid stuff to tell me I have Hashimoto's Disease. Not a serious situation, might eventually need pills, but I was dying to ask if I would break out in screams of KiYA, and start slashing out with the sides of my hands, registered weapons. Or maybe throw bowler hats with metal brims at my enemies...this ref is for you, Heather (!)or at least open a sushi bar. But I was very serious in my responses, since the nurse is not a big joker.

Anyway next time someone quizzes me about not being able to understand how to get from A to B, I'll just say, hey, I can't help it, I have Hashimoto's! I'll bet anything this is a little known symptom.

7 comments:

  1. Hashimoto's? I was thinking perhaps Quasimodo's, reading of your search for a door and sanctuary!

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  2. Snort. I so appreciated the bowler hat reference. :)

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  3. You are such a card!! I think I may be a sufferer too as my sense of direction is well...... directionless.

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  4. Hashimoto's, huh? That's the opposite of Graves' Disease, right? Low thyroid function?

    So, how long have you been feeling "not yourself"? Was it masked by the general stress and anxiety of your situation?

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  5. I love the images you paint in my mind! Never a dull moment! Hiyah!

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  6. This is a new one on me - never heard of Hashimoto disease (I lead a sheltered life - obviously). Must google that and educate myself.

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