The day is finally almost over. I fell asleep early last night (around 930, just in time to miss Psych again), but woke up at 330am to a panic attack. Today I had my appointment with the new doctor and had NO idea what to expect. He specializes in Chronic Lyme Disease and other autoimmune disorders and is one of the best in the state, so I was terrified, hopeful, and just about every emotion in between. It pretty much came down to if anyone was going to find answers, it would be him, if not, he'd know where I should go to find them. At the very least, he'd know in what direction (or directions) to start looking instead of "it's just fibromyalgia--here, take this pill" or "it's just from the Lyme Disease, but the antibiotics won't work so just wait it out." And of course today is a higher pain day, causing my fingers to curl, my neck and shoulders ache, my lower back still hurts, but my hips ache more so it's hard to get comfortable, and every other joint just plain aches. Except it's not a kill me now kind of ache, but more like a yeah, it kinda hurts, but I can deal with it kind of ache.
I finally get to the dr's office (glad I used my GPS instead of my father's directions, or I'd probably still be out driving around) and realize that I don't know what to say as to why I'm there, other than I'm unhappy with my rheumatologist, my neurologist admitted he was out of his league and referred me to him. It sounded much better in my head than when it came out of my mouth. At least he has a sense of humor. He did a basic physical, medical history, and gave me 2 new prescriptions. Except I don't know what they are. I have to keep looking at the paperwork from the pharmacy to remember the name of the one that IS covered by my insurance because as he's explaining what they are and what they do, the nurse was in the room laying out empty vials for blood tests. After she sat the 14th (and thankfully the last) one out, I kept thinking that most of those vials must be for other patients....no one gets that much blood drawn at once, right? Turns out they do. And I don't even know half of what he's testing for! All I understood as he's rattling off abbreviations and such are CBC, Diff, B1, B12, Folate, D, several different Lyme panels, a few thyroid tests, babecia (another tick born bacterial infection), and rocky mountain spotted fever. I thought only dogs got the last one. Then again, I also thought only dogs got Parvo, too. Turns out I had Parvo (called Fifth's Disease in humans) and yes, humans can also get RMSF. I seriously hope that that test comes back negative, or I'm just going to start seeing a vet from now on. At least it's cheaper.
And I'm sick. Again. Still. I don't know. I'm running a fever (again, still, I don't know, it's been going on since late December), my glands are still swollen, and my body still isn't fighting it off. He told me to rest until the fever breaks at the very least. I feel like all I've been doing is resting. And stressing. And resting. Add allergies to that and I'm just a mess. But at least a mess who is on the right path to getting real answers. He copied my labs from the last 2 years, wrote down my "team" of doctors and their phone numbers, ordered his own tests to start with, and wants me back in 6 weeks. It's definitely a start.
After taking a brief prescription history, one of the medications he prescribed to me is commonly used for pain associated with autoimmune disorders (FINALLY!!! A doctor with a brain!) and some different kind of pain medication (which he now has to fight my insurance company to get covered because it's not cheap and not available in generic form). I did have to laugh at the plaquenil though. Other than used as a treatment for RA, SLE, and other similar painful autoimmune disorders, it's primary use is malaria prevention. Because there's such a huge problem up here with malaria, right? Granted, the mosquitos can get pretty wicked as the weather warms up, but I'm more concerned about things like bees, ticks, and spiders *shudders*. But what the hell, it's worth a try. The main downside is that it takes 4-6 weeks before it starts to work, if it's going to work. Upside? The biggest side effect is loss of appetite (good bye stress eating!). So now I'm back to the hurry up and wait stage. Wait for the lab results, wait to see if my insurance will cover the pain medication (that I have no clue the name of it, other than it starts with an "N"), and wait to see if the plaquenil works. And right now, that's fine with me because for the first time in years a doctor is listening to me and is as determined as I am to find out what the hell is going on. I'll take that over complacency, ignorance, and wasted days suffering for no good reason.
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