My Annual Physical

Went to my annual physical today for school and things could not have gone better! This appointment was the first appointment I have had with my pediatrician since I was diagnosed with TS so I wasn't sure what to expect. TS coming up in the office was of course unavoidable, the question just was who was going to bring it up first? Turns out it was my mom to bring it up first. We started off talking about my OCD and to my surprise my doctor actually said that the world likes people with OCD. At first I was a bit confused about the comment but my doctor went on the explain that people with OCD are most of the time very determined and smart people who succeed in life and end up in very high powered professions, not in spite of their OCD but rather, because of it. It made my day to hear this from an adult, especially a doctor. Then of course came the tic part of the conversation. However to my surprise once again my doctor had a different response than I would expect. She was very nonchalant about the whole thing, and said that tics are just not that big of a deal ultimately. This made my mom feel a whole lot better!!! :) My mom was very comfortable talking about it after the appointment and told me for probably the first time that she now too knew that the diagnosis was not as big of a deal as she once thought it was. She even cracked a joke, saying that maybe she'll find a way to get the same diagnosis for my  brother so that he can get the amazing test accommodations that I get for the standardized tests. Although that may not be such a stretch one day considering that TS is genetic, both me and my cousin have it, and since I have seen some very subtle signs of some possible tics/ anxiety from my brother. I can now safely and happily say though that if my brother does ever need to go down that path of diagnosis, he will have the support of my parents who now know some much about about TS than they did before. A good day overall I would have to say! Although on the down side I have a new vocal tic that makes me sound like a whimpering dog. I'm sure my roommate this summer will love that one :p