Another Appointment in the Books

Yesterday I saw my new Rheumatologist for the third time in twelve weeks. The appointment went well. I really like him a lot! You have no idea how good it feels to write that. In the past when I have Rheumetologist appointments I stress the whole week before and when I get there my blood pressure is elevated. This time I didn't stress much except trying to remember all the symptoms I needed to talk to him about so I was well prepared and didn't waste his precious time. My blood pressure was low so I was very happy about that too. What I really like about him is his easy going manner. He is direct and to the point which is a quality I love in anyone I meet. I have learned more about all that is going on with me in the last 12 weeks than I have learned in the past ten years. I have been having issues with my fingers and toes prickly tingly, being very sensitive to anything, and going from ice cold to on fire in a minutes time. I mentioned this to him because I thought it could be a side effect to the new medication he put me on four weeks ago, more on this later. Without hesitation he said, You have Raynauds Syndrome." He explained how the nerves in your fingers and toes have muscles wrapped around them and how your brain messages are messed up as they send messages to your fingers when you go from temperature to temperature hence the symptoms. I have never been aware of these issues because like I told him when you are ill there is alway something going on so you learn to either ignore or blow off symptoms. But since this has become more of an issue I couldn't blow it off any longer. He told me to read up on Raynauds and try to become aware of when the symptoms appear such as going from one room to another or if you are shopping and go in the frozen foods area and have issues. My jaw may have fell open because I always have issues in that area of the store and it isn't just with my fingers but a whole body issue. I rarely go anywhere without a sweater even when it is ninety degrees outside. Air condoning as much as I love it and can't live without it causes me issues from the cold. It's nice to put a name to that issue!

I started a new medication four weeks ago and am blown away by the results I am having. It is call Arava and is a DMARD which stands for disease modifying antirheumtic drug. They basically suppress your immune system from attacking your body. In autoimmune diseases the immune system attacks the body and these types of drugs suppress or slow down the immune system which in turn, if you find the one that works for you, calms down the disease process. I have tried three DMARD's and I am hopeful this is the one I can call mine. I haven't had any of the side effects Dr. Beherendsen warned me of and I am feeling better. This surly doesn't mean I'm cured. I am still having issues don't get me wrong but better none the less. My fatigue has improved significantly and that improvement alone is huge. Very huge! If you have ever experienced extreme fatigue, unexplainable fatigue, you will understand how huge this improvement really is. When you are less fatigued you are able to live better and do more. I am still having joint pain and inflammation. My elbow, fingers especially my pinky joints, and my right knee being the main areas at this time or as I like to say the pain dejour this week is....... My right knee, elbow, and fingers. Next weeks dejour maybe totally different so you learn to go with the flow, one day at a time!  When he examined my joints he felt the inflammation and explained it to me perfectly. My right knee has been extremely painful at night but my right pinky is a 24/7 issue and has been for some time now. He said because of the arthritis when you have a joint that isn't in motion, such as when you sleep, the fluid in there which is usually like jello was before you put it in the frig turns into jello after it has been put in the frig. The joint pain is caused because the fluid is gelling which in turn causes the pain. This is the reason the problem for me is better as I continue to move and hence the severe nighttime pain. This also happens to me if I sit or any period of time. He said we could inject my knee to ease the pain but we decided to wait until our next appointment in four weeks. He explained since I have improved on this medication it is only going to get better so hopefully these joint issues continue to improve and if not I'll get shot up. I'm no stranger to that either so if it need be its fine with me. He said usually by three months there is much more improvement with this medication and by six months more improvement and by nine months I should be a lot better. According to my math that's eight more months but what's eight months compared to ten years? A small drop in the bucket. I can't even imagine my life being handed back to me after 10 years. I've felt like shit for so long it's hard to imagine what life might be like without pain and suffering. Is this really happening? Could this be true? I can hardly wrap my brain around the thought.  I thanked him and told him, "You mean to tell me I could have started this drug ten years ago and been better all this time?" He said, "Yes. This drug came out in 2000." I sighed and decided right then and there I had to let it go and look forward and not backward when it came to all of this and to be happy Dr. Berendsen has been sent here to practice. That story is crazy too because he was hired to replace my other Rheumatologist and the timing of me setting up an appointment with him was bizarre. Then the day after I saw him in the Metro health system I find out he is switching to the Spectrum Health system where all my doctors are practicing through. This was no coincidence but a  blessing I am grateful for. A God thing.  I hope and believe this is the beginning to a final acceptance of this disease process. Ok maybe not a total acceptance but a deeper understanding of how and why things happen when they do. All of this is so complex. Having all of my issues explained to me in terms that it has never has been explained to me before has helped me so much. Stay tuned for a hopeful remission!

God Bless!

Dianne