Fw: I'm thrilled to death...

[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone,

I'm thrilled to death but you all are gonna think I'm nuts. I just don't

care!!

Remember I wrote and was so happy that everything was hurting?? Well, on

the way to my first appointment with my Rheumy nothing hurt except my knee

which is very very swollen!!!!!!!! Blast it all! Anyway, I just said to

myself " This is just not gonna happen again! " Since I had to wait in the

little room 1 1/2 hours before I got to meet/see my Rheumy, I took the very

welcome opportunity to work all or my finger joints in both hands in a way

that I know would irritate them and cause pain and swelling!!! I know

that's a bit nutty but I've been sooooooo frustrated in this and I just

don't care plus it's what happens " naturally " anyway...it just decided it

wasn't gonna do it today (once again). I got the desired results! Yeah!

He got to see swelling, more then tenderness, redness and warmth! Yippee!

BTW, I adore this guy! He is absolutely fantastic and more then I ever

hoped for! He took more blood, even though my previous labs were

up-to-date, he is running some different types of Arthritis tests. They

also X-rayed my hands, if for nothing else, to have it on record for future

and be able to compare with future x-rays. And he x-rayed my knee. He

thought there might be just a tiny bit of fluid but not much and the main

reason he x-rayed it is because it's slowing me down, wants to get me

moving, and, thus, wants to see what's happening with the knee. They took 3

shots of my hands and two shots of my knee.

The physical exam was extremely thorough, extremely gentle, and he went slow

so that he could stop the instant he started to cause me pain. He explained

lots of things, asked if I had questions, told me he was impressed with the

knowledge I had already acquired (thanks my RA buddies!!!!!!!!), told me if

I thought of more questions to write them down and we'd cover them on my

next visit.

Medications: Continue with the Celebrex 200mg twice a day. Then because I

have some really bad dental problems that I'm trying to handle, he didn't

want to put me on Mexthotrexate because it can cause abscesses in the mouth

and lots of mouth problems. He said he didn't want me to go through that.

However, as my dental stuff handles he will probably change meds around

unless what he gaves me works well. The other med he put me on is Plaquenil

and I got the generic version of it so saved a few $$.

He also told me that he feels strongly that I do have RA but feels it might

be more towards the beginning stages.

Oh, and in getting my history, previous meds, doc's, etc., he was totally

upset about the dippy doc...so much so he asked me who he was and where he

was practicing. I gave him the info but didn't ask why he wanted it!!!

So, even though my hands are extremely sore and hurt like the dickens now

(my very own doing), I'm also very pleased, very happy and very relieved!

Many hugs,

PS this didn't send last night...am flaring bad everywhere!!!!!!!!!!