St. Giuseppe Moscati, The Random Saint Who Rescued Me

Have you heard of St. Giuseppe Moscati? I hadn't until a few weeks ago when he (like St. Francis de Sales) started popping up in my life at the most random times. The closer his November 16 feast day got, the more I saw articles and other things about him. On a whim, I decided to look him up... and I'm so happy I did.For the tl;dr crowd: St. Giuseppe Moscati was a doctor and remained a (lay) bachelor his entire life. He was dedicated to serving the poor, even giving up his own money and possessions to ensure that his patients received the medication and treatment they needed. As someone who has been battling (now chronic) illnesses, his story really touched me. I also wondered why he started "following" me around like a certain patron saint of writers has done since this past Lent.I received an Ignatius Press catalog in the mail but I immediately began putting it away (in the bin) because we're going through a financially difficult time and I didn't want the temptation of wanting to buy something when I knew I couldn't. I wasn't paying attention to the pages... until I reached on that had a movie about the life of St. Giuseppe. It was the only thing I noticed on that particular page. "Oh, there's a movie about his life?" Indeed, there is.One of my closest friends lent me her Formed account so I decided to see if they had the movie. I mean, my curiosity was piqued by then. I needed to know more about this saint who would not stop popping up. As soon as I signed in, the movie popped up on the feed... but disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. It took a couple more seconds of searching until I found it. I hooked up my laptop to my TV and Mom and I watched the 3-hour series/movie. I laughed. I cried (a lot). I was inspired by his life for more reasons than one.As we were watching the movie, one of the first things he encounters as a newly practicing doctor is looking at a patient's platelets. "Did he just say 'platelets'?!" I asked Mom. Did he just say something about the one condition that has had my doctor baffled for years? Yes. I immediately assigned him as my patron saint for health issues. This was before the chips hit the fan and both my health and my health provider problems exploded.The Monday after we watched the movie, I had my last doctor appointment. My platelets had plummeted. My red blood count had gone down (making me slightly anemic once again). My protein dipped below normal for the first time ever. Things weren't looking good... but they weren't dangerous. However, that didn't stop the hematologist from (basically) pushing me to do iron infusions, ordering tests that I apparently didn't need, and trying to get me to agree to things I wasn't comfortable with. You know that women's intuition that can sometimes trip us up but that can also save us from getting deeper into trouble? Red flags were going off all around, not just for me but also for my mother.We asked around. I had about 3-4 people say that there was no need for iron infusions, especially since my red blood count wasn't the lowest I'd ever had it. One of my mother's co-workers, a doctor, told my mother, "Don't let them do infusions on Emmy! They're going to hurt her! Get a second opinion." I did get a second opinion from a different doctor at my clinic... and she agreed that iron infusions were unnecessary, that the iron pills I was taking would be fine. I could go ahead and cancel the infusions. Literally 5 minutes after I left (after I double checked about canceling the appointments), I received a phone call. The hematologist insisted I do the infusions and the doctor sounded like her hands were tied. No... something was off. I could feel it. Intuition was strong, as were the opinions of others in the medical field who all agreed they were unnecessary.I decided to switch doctors and hospitals for the first time in 11 years. I never got the same doctor (other than the wonderful doctor I had for 2 years who left in June) when I had appointments. They let things that should've been checked every year slide. I used to have to wait 2-3 months for doctor appointments. Even getting an urgent appointment took up to 2-3 weeks. They wouldn't listen to me... I just didn't have the greatest experience. My mother suggested I look into switching to the hospital where the ambulance had taken me after my car accident; which I didn't choose. There were other hospitals closer to home but they somehow chose to send me there. It was the same hospital where my father was initially diagnosed with colon cancer in 2002 and where he had a tumor removed. I called my health insurance to get the ball rolling. I didn't have a doctor in mind; I just wanted to go elsewhere.On the first day of thanksgiving of the 54-day Rosary novena, I got the call from my health insurance. Of course, I could switch hospitals and doctors! It was right around the enrollment period so it was perfect timing. The hospital accepted my health insurance. The woman who assisted me asked me if I had a doctor in mind. I said, "No." She asked me if I had any preferences, male or female. Again, I said I didn't. She looked at which doctors were associated with the hospital that had openings. I began asked St. Giuseppe for his intercession as I waited on hold. I asked and pleaded that I got a doctor that would take care of like I hadn't over the past 11 years. The first doctor the woman came across didn't fit but the second one did. She asked me if the doctor (a woman whose surname I didn't know how to spell) was okay. I said that I wasn't picky (I wasn't) so we agreed on her. There were some changes done to ensure that I would be covered by this doctor, but none that would affect me. As soon as I could, I made an appointment to be seen with her. I felt a peace about my health that I had not felt in years.Last Monday, on the 11th, I woke up feeling ready for the appointment. Before my appointment, my mother and I stopped at a church (where we used to go to confession) which is literally down the street (3-4 blocks or so) from my new doctor's office... which is also across the street from my new hospital. I knelt in front of the tabernacle and asked that the new doctor help me figure things out. My mom went to the parish office and asked to have the intention of thanksgiving to St. Giuseppe added to that Wednesday's morning Mass. We then went to the appointment and, wow, I was blown away. Is it too early to say that I love my new doctor? Because she's awesome!I took my blood work results from the past year, platelets and red blood count results for the past 2 years. She looked at everything. She asked how my diet was. I honestly told her that I wasn't eating as well as I should have. I explained our financial situation -- that I hadn't had protein or enough to eat on some days. I explained my food allergies and intolerances. She asked me about my stress levels. I told her about my anxiety; about how I'd suffered from social anxiety as a teenager and how it morphed in PTSD as I got older and experienced some traumatic events. I told her about the palpitations that had started popping up again in November. I told her how stressful the program was. She didn't leave a single thing out.She informed me something that none of the previous doctors had told me before -- because my platelets had never gotten into dangerous levels, she believed the real culprit was my poor diet and (surprise!) stress. Although lower than normal platelets has been an issue for years (since around the time of my father's last cancer diagnosis and consequential death), my overall health had initially declined after I began the SLP program in the summer of 2014 (I had to leave the program the first time around in November of that year because my health was poor) and then got worse after my car accident in 2015. The recent numbers (platelets and red blood count) had gone up to the best I'd had in years this past May when I thought I was done with the program for the second time... but began declining the closer I got to the start of this semester. I didn't put these things together until I saw her and she mentioned that stress will actually decrease platelet production. She advised me to walk for 30 minutes every day while I was in school because she knew how difficult my program was. Perhaps it was for the best that I didn't pass that final exam after all since I won't have to continue doing this stressful program.Furthermore, my new doctor confirmed the red flags and women's intuition that had been set off by that overly persistent hematologist (who, by the way, had refused to see me for the first 6-7 years I'd had low platelets). Not only did I not need the iron infusions, they also completely botched up my Celiac test (so we still don't know if I have an intolerance or not). Furthermore, they dropped the ball (for the past 4 years) on keeping track of an enlarged thyroid lymph node I've had for years. I was displaying some possible low thyroid symptoms but they hadn't bothered checking my thyroid levels nor had they ordered another ultrasound to check its growth (it's benign, btw; I had it biopsied years before my father passed away)."Don't worry about your health," my new doctor told me. "You're fine." I'm going to be okay. I look fine (I've had a naturally rosy tint in my cheeks for weeks now and I've back to my pre-health issues weight). My blood work from last month showed no signs of concern for anything. I don't need to go to a hematologist. She ordered a full lupus panel along with other blood work for next month because she wants to do things properly and wants to rule that out even though that hasn't been tested twice at my former hospital. She wasn't impressed with the "care" I had received before so she's going to make sure we get the proper results. She assured me that she would take care of me and that I would get better. I mean... c'mon! What a difference!I'm happy. I'm at peace. I've felt like this is just the beginning of a new life for me since I made the decision to switch primary health providers, and that feeling only intensified after I came out of my first appointment. I have to go get my blood work done next month and I have my first thyroid ultrasound (in 4 years!) this upcoming Friday.Thank you, St. Giuseppe Moscati, for your intercession. This is only the beginning of a brand new journey for me... and I'm glad to have you on my side and as my intercessor, as I begin this road to recovery. Thank you for saving me from the potential danger and/or troubles that the iron infusions (which could've resulted in an anaphylactic shock since I have so many allergies to medications and foods... which I wasn't informed about until after I had initially agreed to the infusions; after I'd been told that there were no possible side effects) could have brought.I have yet to read the book on St. Giuseppe's life (we're on a strict "food, hygiene, and bills only" budget right now) but you can bet I'm going to the first chance I get. :)Anyway, I've been wanting to share this with y'all for a while now but I was waiting to see how it all played out before I wrote anything. And now, you know!Thank you all who've been praying for my health issues. My chronic fatigue has lessened in recent weeks. As I've already mentioned, I'm back to my pre-health issues weight and even had a rosy tint on my (fuller) cheeks. Props to St. Giuseppe Moscati... and the 54-day Rosary novena since my health has been one of the big intentions since I began it on All Saints' Day.I hope you all have a lovely start to the week! :DAs always, thanks for reading and God bless! :D