Facing the unknown...

Well in less than an hour, I will be on my way to another doctor's appointment to face my fate. For the past five months, I have been going from one doctor to the next. I have been poked & prodded to the point where I feel like I am a lab rat facing unknown tests with unknown results. Do you ever sit back and wonder just how many tests a doctor can run on you or why can't they just run them all at one time? (It's money, I tell you!!)

Here's a brief background ... in November, I had my routine annual physical and told my PCP about some pains I had been having in and around my knees. She sent me for X-rays to rule out any injuries I may have sustained from when I used to play football (yes on the girls team). They came back clean. The only thing found was a Vitamin D deficiency, so I was put on medication. More blood-work done in February showed I had an increased ANA Level (something along the lines of detecting antibodies in our body). I was then sent to a rheumatologist who decided to play the twenty million question game with me and then run MORE blood-work to breakdown the ANA and determine what in my body was causing such elevation.

Wellllllll...a week or so later those results came back and determined I was testing positive for two diseases: Scleroderma and Auto Immune Thyroid Disease. I was told to come back in four months for more follow-up blood-work on the Scleroderma. Well, I wanted to know what about the thyroid, as those levels were soaring off the chart (normal is supposed to be between 0 and 60, mine was 2,732). Back to the PCP I go and she refers me to an Endocrinologist.

During all this, I came down with three infections and later developed bronchitis. Basically I have little to no immune system anymore as my own body is attacking itself and I cannot fight off sickness, so I am continually staying sick. Today, I face the unknown again -- going to a new doctor whom I know little to nothing about, wondering what tests may be performed, wondering what could be wrong with my thyroid (is it just not working, do I have some sort of disease or worse do I have cancer?)

Oddly enough, I have, for the most part, been relatively calm about all these appointments and needle prodding. I have faith that God will take care of me and He will heal me. He has given me a loving family and friends who are standing behind me and supporting me through this ordeal. So today, as I sit in my office wondering what the next few hours hold, I know it is all in God's plans and I am going to remain calm and face whatever is thrown in my path next.