Alice

[Guest guest]

Welcome, Alice!

A positive ANA test result is not specific to any single disease, but a high

titre and RA-like symptoms would cause your doc to look into lupus. The

pattern of the ANA could provide an important clue, and, yes, other tests

can be done to distinguish between RA and lupus.

Unfortunately, especially in the beginning, lupus and RA can produce very

similar symptoms. On top of that, the labs may not show too much in the

early stages.

Off the top of my head, I can think of three tests that are very specific to

lupus: the anti-dsDNA antibody test, the anti-Sm antibody test, and a skin

biopsy. Also, in RA, erosions of the bone (seen on an x-ray).

Do you have any sort of skin involvement? For example, if you ever had the

classic malar rash (the " butterfly " rash), that is something very specific

to lupus (but a minority of lupus patients ever have it).

Hope this helps,

----- Original Message -----

From: " Alice Skehan " <askehan@...>

< egroups>

Sent: Monday, June 26, 2000 4:13 PM

Subject: [ ] RA Support New Member with a question for the list

> Hello Everyone.

>

> My name is Alice and I live in a small town in northern New Mexico

> (That's the state between Arizona and Texas). I like to play the

> guitar and do crafts, but stopped both over the last 6 months.

>

> I went in for some blood tests last month because my joints in my

> wrists and ankles were killing me and surprize - the test showed a

> very high ANA w/reflex result (1:5100)

>

> My doctor thinks I may have Lupus, but after doing some surfing, the

> test result sounds more like RA than Lupus.

>

> So, to the Question -

> Do you all know if people with RA have higher results on this test

> than people with Lupus? Is there any test to differenciate the two?

>

> Thanks in advance for the info.

>

> Sincerely,

> Alice in Espanola

[Guest guest]

Alice,

So sorry to hear about your ulcer and your trip to the ER. I'm hoping you

are feeling good and less grumpy today.

Just a word of caution: please don't take any more medication on your own.

If you aren't sure what your diagnosis is yet, you don't really know what

further damage you could do to yourself by self-medicating.

If you have lupus, for example, you have to take extra care not to ingest

certain drugs that are known to cause lupus flares in many patients, and you

have to be very cautious of taking anything that could hurt your kidneys.

Hope your appointment goes (went?) well with your PA. Sorry you have to wait

so long to see the rheumatologist. That's the standard routine

unfortunately.

----- Original Message -----

From: " Alice Skehan " <askehan@...>

< egroups>

Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2000 10:34 AM

Subject: [ ] RA Support: Thank you to the list

> Just a big thank you to everyone on the list

> for their kind response and good information.

>

> I haven't been posting too much because after 2 weeks of taking what

> I now know are effective but too high dosages of Ibuprofen (800 mg, 3

> times a day), I ended up in the ER for an ulcer. And I thought

> childbirth was painful!

>

> So, I'm off the Ibuprofen and on Prilosec and tylenol with codine.

> Thankfully, the flare(?) is subsiding a little and I can still drive

> and work without any NSAIDs. Can't wear my wedding ring yet. grumpff.

>

> So I go to my regular doctor (PA really) in a couple of days and have

> my first appointment with an RA in 4 weeks (thank you HMO).

>

> In closing, they should change Lupus/RA names to the whining disease.

> I haven't been this grumpy since, well, ever!

>

> Alice in Espanola

[Guest guest]

--- In egroups, " Matsumura " <Matsumura_Clan@m...>

wrote:

> Alice,

> Just a word of caution: please don't take any more medication on

your own.

> Hope your appointment goes (went?) well with your PA. Sorry you

have

to wait so long to see the rheumatologist. That's the standard

routine

unfortunately.

>

thanks for the kind words, but . . .

ay, there 's the rub:

My GP DOCTOR prescribed the medication (Ibuprofen) and then LEFT THE

STATE. In state where I live, we have a real problem with fewer

doctors every day. There is only one MD left at the clinic I go to.

The rest are PAs and RNs (?). Of course, I could drive the 30 miles

to Santa Fe in a pinch . . . .

Being very nice to my favorite Physician's Assistant,

Alice in Espanola

[Guest guest]

So sorry I assumed you were self-medicating when in fact you had a doctor

trying to hurt you, Alice! Excuse me! Good thing he left the state. How

incredibly careless he was. If SLE is a possibility for you, giving

ibuprofen in such large doses (or any other NSAID for that matter) is

ill-advised until they make the diagnosis and rule out liver or kidney

involvement.

I'm really hoping you have better luck with your PA and rheumatologist.

----- Original Message -----

From: " Alice Skehan " <askehan@...>

< egroups>

Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2000 5:57 PM

Subject: [ ] Re: Alice

>

> > Alice,

> > Just a word of caution: please don't take any more medication on

> your own.

> > Hope your appointment goes (went?) well with your PA. Sorry you

> have

> to wait so long to see the rheumatologist. That's the standard

> routine

> unfortunately.

> >

>

>

> thanks for the kind words, but . . .

>

> ay, there 's the rub:

> My GP DOCTOR prescribed the medication (Ibuprofen) and then LEFT THE

> STATE. In state where I live, we have a real problem with fewer

> doctors every day. There is only one MD left at the clinic I go to.

> The rest are PAs and RNs (?). Of course, I could drive the 30 miles

> to Santa Fe in a pinch . . . .

>

> Being very nice to my favorite Physician's Assistant,

> Alice in Espanola

[Guest guest]

I wanted to let everyone know that Alice went home from rehab today. I

visited with her the first of the week for a couple of days. Now to adapt

to getting about in her home. She will go back to the Dr. in about three

weeks and he will then say when for her to start outpatient rehab for

minimal weight bearing. She has several hundred emails that built up during

the three weeks she has been in the hospital so it will take awhile to wade

through them. She told me again to thank everyone for the phone calls,

cards, and prayers. I am sure she will thank you personally soon.

Please visit my pages at www.angelfire.com/ga2/lamar and sign the guestbook.

[Guest guest]

alice

I also had the same insurance issue - I paid for the explant myself then had the implanys analyzed by dr. Blais in Canada. I sent his report to them to appeal - it took several appeals but I did win and they agreed that it should have been covered and paid me back (less my co-pay). this is when I had United - I think you will have luck appealing if you get the implants analyzed and prove that they are contaminated and/or leaking. there really isn't much of a chance that they aren't contaminatred by all that I have seen. what brand do you have? Be stern with them and appeal - do not give up. I wanted to see doc Feng but my plan wouldn't have paid for "out of state" doctors and I knew I was going to appeal so I stayed in FLorida so I could be reimbursed. hope ths helps

love

shari

[Guest guest]

Shari-

Hello! Thanks for writing me back. I actually made an appt. yesterday with Dr. Feng. I put down a deposit of $1500, so it's a done deal. I go to the consultation appt in June and then the next day I have the explantation. If anyone ever needs to know the avg. cost of explantation, it's around $6500. My husband and I will take out a loan to cover everything. We're not wealthy, so we'll do whatever it takes. Please let everyone in the group know that they have all helped! I don't think I could have did this so quickly on my own.

Also, regarding the insurance. I have an HMO with Personal Care. I don't know if they will accept the appeal, but I will sure try. I'll have the implants analyzed and go from there. I have a lot of experience getting down and dirty with the insurance companys, so I'll give it my best shot. Love to all! Alice

halvey70@... wrote:

aliceI also had the same insurance issue - I paid for the explant myself then had the implanys analyzed by dr. Blais in Canada. I sent his report to them to appeal - it took several appeals but I did win and they agreed that it should have been covered and paid me back (less my co-pay). this is when I had United - I think you will have luck appealing if you get the implants analyzed and prove that they are contaminated and/or leaking. there really isn't much of a chance that they aren't contaminatred by all that I have seen. what brand do you have? Be stern with them and appeal - do not give up. I wanted to see doc Feng but my plan wouldn't have paid for "out of state" doctors and I knew I was going to appeal so I stayed in FLorida so I could be

reimbursed. hope ths helpsloveshari

[Guest guest]

my ps told me that i may have them depending on how much i bleed? so i felt extremely dissappointed to say the least. he said for me they were a necessary evil-didn't seem to help my boobs much anyway! love, lisa i not sure if that is standard- i pretty much consider him a freak!Alice Hauser <alicehauser1048@...> wrote:

-

Nasty drains? I thought they only put drains in after the explantation surgery. Are docs supposed to do this when you first get implants? I'm only asking because I never had them. Just wondering...

Love,

Alicelisa robinson <jzamom2001@...> wrote:

kacey, that is so wierd that you said that about your implant surg. i talked to lots of people that said no big deal-one pain pill and i was in tip top shape. i was miserable- terrible pain, bed-ridden for awhile and those nasty drains. i guess it was our body saying this is not good- what are you doing here! interesting-huh? love, lisakaceybu02 <kaceyalong@...> wrote: Colleen,I think you're onto something here! I know that implant surgery for me was AWFUL! Extra awful. My friend (20 years older) had hers done on a Friday and was back to work that Monday. Me, on-the-other-hand couldn't function for 10 DAYS at all! I had to have my drains in for like 10 days due to all of the fluid draining (which wasn't very common). The surgeon just gave up and removed them, even though I was still draining TONS! Then after surgery, I was WORTHLESS for a long time after. When I finally recovered from surgery, I began to have weird, sharp shooting arm pain episodes. And then the other symptoms eventually kicked in....and my breasts were ALWAYS tender. I think the whole thing was a mess. I wish my surgeon would have taken the extra drainage as a "sign" that maybe my body was rejecting the implants...or at least

didn't like them very much.Explantation surgery, however, was NO BIG DEAL AT ALL. I smiled when I woke up and felt like I could wear heels (for the first time in sooooo long) and go dancing! I had to consciously remind myself to take it easy as I just had surgery. I know that a lot of this was because my steriod intake increased at the time of surgery; but my body also looked thinner (very noticably thinner...MTV even commented on it when I woke up!) as I had just gotten rid of my toxic bags!Take care, girl,Kacey> I've heard lots of people lately saying how when they got their implants,> they were back at work after just a couple of weeks. I was in bed in PAIN> for at least three weeks and after that, I was still pretty much out of> commission. I'm wondering if any of you had pain like this (more than>

normal) when you first got your implants. Wondering if the amount of pain> then could relate to our illness. Just curious. It could be that I was in so> much pain because I had no right breast and the muscle and skin was> stretched so much....or maybe I'm just a BIG WEENIE!