What’s wrong with me

At my last dental appointment I mentioned that my tongue was stained, furry, cracked and quite sore.  Martin confirmed that I didn’t have anything fungal or bacterial but that it could be an allergy to the strong mouthwash he gave me.  He then asked if he could look at my eyes and check my nails after which he suggested a blood test might be a good idea as I could be anaemic.  When I told him I’d lost almost a stone (6.3 kilos) since my front crown broke he said I should definitely get a blood test.   

It was easy to enter my symptoms online and within a couple of hours I spoke to a doctor and was given appointment next day for blood to be taken at our local surgery.  This week I went back to the health centre to discuss the results with a different doctor.  I told her about my dentist’s concern, the state of my tongue etc.  She looked at my results which were all normal but said they hadn’t tested for anaemia as the doctor had marked weight loss as the problem, so now I have to go back next week for more blood to be taken. 

Then she asked me various questions from a script one of which was had I ever smoked, which I had for a few years in my 20s but mostly socially and never regularly. She listened to my breathing and felt my abdomen which she said were fine.

Now in addition to more blood tests I have to give a urine and a poo sample and also go to Skipton for a chest x ray.  At no time did the doctor look at my tongue or ask me how much weight I have lost or what I weigh now (8.5 stone/54 kilos).  I did mention that I am quite happy to be thin and the weight loss occurred when I struggled to eat for a month with a wobbly crown before I returned to Yorkshire. Now I am eating normally and healthily, not drinking alcohol, sleeping well and exercising regularly.

I seem to have opened a can of worms and we have gone completely off piste. I am grateful to be getting such thorough testing while wondering about all the people with serious medical issues who wait months and months for treatment.  Meantime at my dentist’s suggestion I have bought a tongue cleaning brush and a scraper (he suggested a butter knife was a good alternative to the latter).  Things are much improved and I am hopeful I shall be fixed before the results are in.