Fun, Fun

Its been a fun couple of days. Well, not really. My docs were out of the office on Friday so I ended up going to the ER that afternoon when the pain had spread to both legs and my ankles were a little swollen, despite the lasix. The ER doc ordered blood tests and my protime was even lower than it was on Wednesday despite the increase in coumadin. She also did a test to see if there was a possible clot, and it showed there may be so I had an ultrasound on both legs. Hurt like hell between my mid-thigh and my knees but I survived.

The right leg is clear, but there is still scar tissue in the left where there was before - probably some worse because of the thickening but hopefully will clear out again. I was so relieved there wasn't a blockage. She gave me a large dose of coumadin there, and then told me to keep it at the higher dose until Tuesday when I see my regular docs and have another protime taken. See where we're at.

My legs have really hurt, especially yesterday. Pain pills and keeping them elevated have helped a lot. Today, so far I haven't had to take a pain pill. YAY!

RA hasn't been too bad - but then again I've been on the pain pills!

Thick

I get my protime tests done each month when I get my Remicade treatment by my RA doc. The tests are to be sent to Dr. B my internist. I hadn't heard anything for about 3 months so I called on Tuesday to find out if everyting was OK. They haven't been getting my test results (so I'll raise some hell with the lab!). I had the results faxed to Dr. B and the tests showed my blood is a lot thicker than it should be. With the amount of coumadin I take, it shouldn't be that thick so just to double check, he had me go in Wed afternoon for a quick test in his office. It was slightly lower (thicker) than the other tests showed. Great. So he is having me increase my meds by 2.5 mg for 4 days then go back to my regular dose. Tuesday I'll have another protime to see how its doing.

Now, I don't know if I'm being paraoind or what, but the last 2 days my legs have ached just like my leg did when I had the DVT (blood clot down the length of my left leg) - not to that extreme but the same type of ache. My ankles are slightly swollen but not any more than they have been for the past 3 weeks (I thought from the heat). I'm on 80mg of lasix a day since I have swelling anyway. My right leg actually hurts worse. Last night I started to realize what it could be. I will call Dr. B today to see if he wants me to go in for an ultra sound or if the thinks its OK. I don't want to be paranoid but I also know blood clots are something not to be messed with.

Other than that - I had major RA pain with all the heat, but things have cooled off now and the pain isn't so bad. I went the past 2 days without a pain pill (only at night). YAY!

UC has been fine, but my blood sugar has been a bit irratic and I'm blaming the heat for that too. Seemed to be really bad when it was so hot.

Flares

I'm having some slight flares. Last night all of the sudden my right shoulder started bothering me, and before I knew it my wrist was too. The tendons were sticking out as they have in the past from the swelling. My elbow was next. I went to bed quickly and had ice packs on all spots and fell asleep, and woke up 4 hrs later and the ice packs had melted but things felt better so I didn't put more on. I woke up this morning with still some pain, and my right hip is doing the same thing. Then to top it off, I have the weird sore throat I get when I'm having flares. I'm sure its the heat causing it all, plus being upset Saturday night (upset is an understatement).

I was able to come to work though, and the pain pills have kept the pain in a tolerable level. I'll go to bed early again tonight and do the ice thing again. One good thing about the ice is that its keeping me cool! ;-)

UC has been fine, and my Blood sugar has been OK, I think the lowest its dropped was 66 in the past few days. Not sure why, I didn't forget to eat. Could be the heat too.

IN HELL!

Its so hot here, over 100 and it is killing my joints. Especially my hips, knees and feet. My hips are hurting so bad I've got pains in my ass. Pain pills help but not totally (but what else is new). I really think the heat is so much harder on RA than the cold is.

I went to Colorado over the weekend, and did really well. I didn't get over tired but was able to do all I wanted to. The altitude didn't bother me much. My tummy behaved until Sunday night when I ate Mexican food, and then some Key Lime cheesecake. Too much - but it tasted SO good. I even tried Buffalo! It was delicious and it didn't bother my tummy much at all. It was so tender, more than prime rib would be. I know I shouldn't eat it all the time, but once in a while it should be OK. So lean too. I was surprised at how good it was.

Blood sugar was a little off from time to time but I didn't drop really low.

Remicade

I had my monthly Remicade treatment yesterday and things went OK. Dr B. said to leave everything the same. I told him about all the test that Dr W. ordered for me, and he had his nurse look up the bone scan results. I am indeed slightly below normal. He needs to keep me on the low dose of prednisone which I HATE but I also want a life! So, he said to double up on my calcium as long as I stay under 1500 mg I'll be fine. So, I will take 1200 mg.

Dr. B didn't want to put me on any bone meds because they bother gastro and I'm just getting stable so its not a good idea to mess with it.

Dr W should be calling me early next week with the exact results of the other and what she wants to do.

Stronger

Not feeling so fragile now, and having the mini melt down/pity pot day really helped. I'm still nervous but, I need to find out exactly what is wrong and then will face what needs to be done.

I've been in quite a bit of pain from the heat (I think!) but its also time for my Remicade treatment which is tomorrow. YAY.

UC has been fine, and blood sugar has been pretty good too. I've been getting a lot of rest, and that feels good. I wish I didn't have to head back to work tomorrow, but I'll suck it up and go ;-)

Test Day

I went to the hospital this morning for my 4 tests. I was smooshed, smashed, squeezed, rolled on, slimed, scanned, and measured. I had the mammo first, and that is always fun, feeling like you're plopping 5 lbs of meat on a cold metal counter. Then I went for my ultrasounds. They did the ovary first while my bladder was VERY full then I had to empty it before they did the vag (poky) one. Now there's an experience all in itself. I've had one before but I don't remember the wand being quite so big and it was pretty darn uncomfy. I was poked and prodded. Then they did the boob ultrasound. I was really impressed because the doctor came in and rescanned it just to make sure it was a good scan.

She gave me the results while I was there which was nice too. The mammo was clear, and the ultrasound showed the fibroid (as it did 2 yrs ago). I had to go get my films from the other hospital so she could do a comparison after I left. Anyway, she said its nothing to be worried about but we'll need to keep an eye on it. So, that's some good news.

Then she gave me the news about the ovary. My right one (the painful one!) is fine, but the left one shows something. (Great.) She wants to wait 6 weeks, then have me come in again to have yet another poke ultrasound. If its still there, we have a problem. If not - then its just something related to ovulating - but she was leaning towards the problem because it didn't look normal. She didn't want me to worry but wanted to give me a heads-up AND she needs to talk to my doctor too and then she can decide what she wants me to do.

Last, I went in for the bone scan. The lady asked how tall I was. 5'8". So she measured me and I was down to 5'6.5". I've lost 1.5" in a year. Holy shit. She said, "Oh dear, that's not good at all." So, she went over more of my history and said it could be linked to both the RA and being on prednisone BUT we have to wait and get the results. I just got the feeling that she didn't think they'd be too good.

I'm struggling a bit right now, because I'm so tired of being sick and I honestly don't know if I can handle one more thing. I know I shouldn't be getting upset until I know for sure, but its hard not to think and worry if something is wrong. I think I'll have myself a really good cry - and then deal with whatever comes my way.

The blasted heat is back too - and that's not helping at all. I'm in a lot of pain right now too. I'm going to take a coolish shower and relax. Hopefully that will help the pain pill.