[rhonda41]

Hello Everyone.

I hope you all are doing well.

I just want to update you on my diagnosis or lack thereof. I'm not really sure what happened today.

I was supposed to see my rheumatologist on the 27th of this month, but a friend of mine who also sees the same doctor suggested that I bypass the office staff and talk to his (the doctor's) assistant and see if I could get in sooner. So I tried it, and, to my surprise, I was able to see the doctor today. Hurray!!!! I shaved off two weeks waiting time!

I think I got a diagnosis of sorts, but I'm not really sure. That's why I posted here instead of in the "Newly Diagnosed" section. I hope this is OK.

I'll try to make this short and get to the important part.

My doctor looked at my latest labs and I told him about all of the symptoms I've had over the summer. He told me that my symptoms were cosistant with Lupus and my "strong positive ANA" a year later was an indicator as well. For those of you that don't know, I had an ANA test done a year ago and it was also positive (1:640). My titer hasn't changed with the most current test.

So, was that a diagnosis or just conjecture? He didn't come right out and say "You have Lupus." He did say that he was going to run some more blood tests to see if any of the complimentary antibody tests come back positive. If so, he will put me on medication right away. If they come back negative he said he would go on my symptoms and prescribe medication for me the next time I flare. I had more blood drawn before I left his office. The tests he specified on the lab order were a dsDNA, SSA, SSB, Sm, and RNP. I have no idea what those are specifically. I just know they are antibody tests because he told me they are.

Well, I feel good about my appointment because he didn't dismiss my symptoms and I feel like I'm getting somewhere. At last!!!!!

Plus, I'm feeling good these days. No more back pain. Thank God!!! That was almost 6 weeks worth of misery. I'm getting ready to go back to work next week and I hope I stay healthy. I'm a teacher and the usual hustle and bustle of preparing everything usually takes a toll on me and makes me feel run down and then I get sick. It happens every year. I am praying that it won't happen this time around.

Thanks for reading my post and taking an interest in me. I do appreciate it very, very much.

Take care.

Rhonda

 

[Katharine]

Hi Rhonda,

That sounds like a pretty good appointment on the whole. Was this the first time you saw this rheumy? It would certainly be unusual for a rheumy to give a clear diagnosis on the first visit.

The extra anti-body tests he has run are more specific antibody tests that can hopefully tell him if it is lupus precisely or another auto-immune disease similar to lupus. ANA alone is basically like a screening test. A high positive tells you there is something auto-immune going on but not exactly what.

hope that helps a bit,
Katharine

 

[rhonda41]

Hi Katharine.

I've seen this rheumatologist twice before. In fact, he's the only rheumatologist I've seen at all. The last time I saw him was in December and at that time my bloodwork did not show anything more that could be related to Lupus or arthritis. All I had was the positive ANA. I was feeling pretty good at the time too. He said the ANA suggested that there was some sort of inflamation in my body, but that's it. He also told me that he didn't think I had Lupus but that he would continue monitoring me to see if anything developed later on. That's where it stood until this past June when I started feeling really bad again.

I'm sure he's taking everything that has happened over the past year into consideration when giving me his opinions and recommendations. And I'm glad he's not relying on the bloodwork alone to make decisions for my healthcare. That gives me confidence in his judgement.

I am very hopeful that I will know exactly what is going on in the near future. I'll keep pursuing it until I do.

Have a good night!

Rhonda

 

[LolaLola]

Dear Rhonda, I am glad you are getting somewhere, it sounds very positive.

Please be careful when you go back to work.
x Lola

 

[rhonda41]

Thanks Lola!