If you’re a regular reader, you may remember me saying recently that in order to appreciate the ups of your life, you have to experience the downs, too. Well, it seems that the downs my be coming my way.
\nOver the past few years, I’ve been having difficulties with my feet. I developed a plantar fasciia problem in my left foot. I was referred to a podiatrist and that was resolved. Then, I began having difficulty walking after I had been sitting. Gradually that became worse, but other than telling my new doctor that my feet hurt, I didn’t pursue it. Since the pain shifted around from place to place, I felt there was no point in discussing it further with the doctor.<\/p>\n
\nWell, the pain increased and I developed a plantar fasciia problem in my right foot. My feet began to hurt when I went to bed, and I was having difficulty sleeping. Ultimately, my doc sent me to an orthopedic doctor. He x-rayed my foot every way possible and agreed about the plantar fasciia problem. He gave me several exercises to do that helped, and asked me to take an EMG test.
\nThe upshot of that test was that I have small fiber neuropathy. 95% of neuropathy is due to diabetes, but I’m one of the 5% who aren’t diabetic. The orthopedic doc sent me to a neurologist.
\nHE asked me to take 11 blood tests. When the answers started coming back, it seemed to point that I had problems in the rheumatology area. He prescibed meds for the pain. Quietly muttering “lupus” under his breath, he sent me on to a Rheumatologist.
\nNow, THIS doctor is kewl! He’s practiced for 30 years, and has taught rheumatology at Rush in Chicago. He’s also worked in the county hospital, so I suspect that he’s seen just about everything. He spent more than an hour with me on our first visit. We tentatively came to an agreement that the three things that disturbed the neurologist COULD simply be unrelated syndromes, and not signs of lupus.
\nSo, a week ago Tuesday, I went to my dermatologist and told her what was going on. Marks on my arms and legs which she feels are sun damage were one of the symptoms being considered. She did two biopsies. One was a definitive test to determine if lupus was present in the skin. The second would determine if her assessment of sun damage was correct. The definitive test came back in three days, and I do NOT have lupus in my skin.
\nSo…I don’t know if that means I don’t have lupus anywhere else, but I’ll know more on Tuesday when I visit with the Rheumatologist again.
\nWhat this leaves us with is a larger puzzle. I have a medical problem. Something is causing this neuropathy, and all we might be able to say is that it isn’t lupus.
\nWith that in mind, I plan to wait to research the subject. It seems to me that there is no point in scaring myself over things which “could be” or “might be.” Better to enjoy this Spring, and continue life as normally as possible until the boom drops. I have been incredibly lucky this far in my life, and God may grant me a little more luck in the future. No matter what comes my way, I have loads of good memories stored up, and the will to adjust to what comes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you’re a regular reader, you may remember me saying recently that in order to appreciate the ups of your life, you have to experience the downs, too. Well, it seems that the downs my be coming my way. Over … Continue reading