One best friend is worth a bus load of medicine

A good best friend is worth a thousand times his weight in medicine.

My doctor treats my pneumonia and sinus infection like a heart attack, running tests, changing medicine, leaving me totally depressed and still sick after over a month.  The final straw?  Now they are going to do echo cardiograms and a stress test.  

At least I have finally been given the right medicine to treat my sinus infection, my ear ache, my sore throat -- after a month!  That alone makes me feel better, lowers my blood pressure immediately.

My friend catches all the flack of a super stressful month.

Some people would react with defensive tactics.  It is what I expect after being in a long and unhealthy marriage.  I guess that is how I know I have the best bestest in the world.  He understands immediately what is wrong.  He reaches out with compassion and understanding, offers me a loving ear.

I go from the depths of depression, the terror of the unknown, the self doubts and health doubts to a calm that is amazing.  My blood pressure drops into normal range like magic.  The future looks not only manageable, but even fun.

Modern medicine forgets everyone is different.  I am not a test tube, or middle of the road test case.  I am a complicated biological creature affected as much by my emotions and quality of life as I am by things they can measure on their instruments.