First Appointment with new doctors

July 29, 2005

OH MY GOD. That is all I can say. The doctor who saw me was

incredible. He not only listened to me, believed me, and encouraged

me, but he was actually happy that I had done my own research! When

I showed him my last two lab results, and told him what my rheumy

had told me, and how it didn't jibe with what I had read, he

completely agreed with me. He also told me that he considers the

anti-dsDNA results much more indicative of lupus than ANA. That

surprised me, even though I knew that even borderline high anti-

dsDNA was highly indicative of lupus, but my negative ANA was

throwing me off a little. I do know that some patterns of ANA can

only be read by hand, but still...

After talking with him, I also realized that the first time I felt

the fatigue that is so " normal " for me, now, was when my kidneys

first began to fail while I was pregnant. THAT was an eye-opener.

Most of my symptoms have surfaced since then. A few were there

before, but most of them began in the last two years, and most of

those in the last 6 months to a year.

The initial appointment lasted over two hours! He did the

interview, did a full exam, including some neurological function

(which I didn't do too well on a couple of things ), bloodwork,

and xrays (which I have to go back for because I had my daughter

with me...she had been sent home the day before with pink

eye...grrr). I go back in a month for the results, and he said that

they are going to get to the bottom of this and get me treated. He

also said that even though they are the specialists, it is my body

and my final decision for course of treatment. They use

conventional treatments combined with holistic (PT, nutrition,

supplemental) and antibiotic treatments. I love this approach...it

will hopefully mean fewer drugs and a more " rounded " treatment,

which is what I believe in, anyway.

They take patients from all over the country, and also take most

insurance, so email me if you'd like information for them. I'm just

so glad I've found someone " on my side " , finally. I was starting to

think that there were no competent rheumatologists out there .

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