Let The Appointments Begin...

Rheumatologist #1 did a thorough exam. Lots of questions. Yes and no. Does this hurt? X-rays and (gasp!) the dreaded gown! Then off to the lab for 10 tubes of blood.

I was told that if all was good, I'd get a letter in the mail. If not, they'd call. A week passed. No call. No news is good news, right? But no. The call came. Very matter-of-fact and not at all what I was expecting. The nurse wanted me to come in for 120mg of Depo-Medrol injections right away.

No thanks. Not yet. And if I could've drowned this out with a flood of tears, it would've happened that day.

But let me tell you the neat part. Mid morning and Honey was home! He's never home that time of day. But this day it happened. And God had provided for me long before I needed it. I didn't have to face that stupid phone call alone.

Doctor #2. There are only 2 in town and this guy has a long wait. But his family is in my homeschool group and his wife helped to set up an earlier appt for me. So grateful.

He looked at my bloodwork and basically told me it was as bad as he's ever seen. I'm facing a very debilitating disease and I need to move quickly. Grim prognosis. More tears. Lots of fear. We talked meds and side effects. But which is worse? The disease or the side effects? Both.

He wanted to repeat my labs just to make sure and I'm still waiting on that. I left with a script for Plaquenil and an appt with an eye dr for a base line b/c of the serious side effects to the eyes.

It's still in my planner.

But God to the rescue again! It was Wednesday and that meant Awana. And if you don't know how much I love my Awana peeps then hop on over to Celebrating Life and read all about them.
It was time to move on.

For those of you who might have RA or are familiar with this sorta thing, here are my numbers...

CCP - 250+ (normal = 20)
Rheumatoid Factor - 407 (normal = 14)
Sed rate - 26 (normal = 20)
C Reactive Protein- 3.19 (normal = 2.99)

The last 2 don't look so bad huh?

I wake in the night and can't go back to sleep. So I start some more researching and find some very encouraging accounts of those who were healed with diet manipulation. That fits a lot better with my way of thinking. And Honey agreed.

And for the last opinion I got an appt with the natural med doctor in Springdale. Only it was weeks away. But ya know what? Today they called to fit me into a cancellation!!! Coincidence? I think not. Sounds like a direct result of my friends and family praying to me!

So tomorrow morning Honey and I will enjoy a drive to Springdale and a visit with Dr. Baker.
I'll let ya know....

So Loved!

I can't believe how many people are praying for me! I feel so loved! And so thankful to be blessed by all of you. Thank you!

In A Nutshell

At least I'll try.

During the week between Christmas and New Years I would wake up with achy feet. All of a sudden it hurt to get out of bed and I'd hobble around a while before I loosened up. It was better during the day.

Then it got worse. And my feet would hurt during the day as well and especially after sitting awhile. A couple of days later my hands started hurting. Then swollen knuckles.

And I was pretty sure I needed to turn back the clock to 2010 .... or the good ol' days...as I like to call them.

I have always been healthy. And with the exception of having babies, I could count on one hand the number of times I'd been to a doctor with an actual illness. This was weird.

So I searched the internet and was sorry to find that I fit the symptoms for Rheumatoid Arthritis. Especially b/c there is nothing good that comes from that diagnosis. But what do I know? I'm no doctor.

Then...OH MY! My shoulder was killing me. Like don't-even-think-of-touching-me pain and I'd rather you not talk or look at me either. No driving. No cooking dinner for my family. No anything except sitting on the couch with my rice bag and praying this goes away. My hands and feet still hurt and it was only getting worse.

I had to do something.

I made an appt with my doctor. She ordered a lot of lab work and told me she thought I fit the profile for RA.

As I waited for lab results, the pain grew worse. It was hard to turn on lamps, or the lids to my contact case, or the can opener. I could no longer guarantee I'd make it to church or piano lessons or anywhere else. I'd wake up and it'd be something new. A wrist, another finger, an elbow, the other shoulder. Always tons worse in the morning but never going away.

Lab results confirmed that my rheumatoid factor was high. My doctor referred me to a rheumatologist.

Let the journey begin....