Foot-related medical stuff

[cjsmith]

Feet:

Called the NY doctor to plan trip.
He said he wanted me there for two weeks.
I said AAAAACK!
He said oh okaaaayy, get these three tests done locally, and then we'll make plan B.

So I have an appointment with my GP on Monday, and I have a prescription mailed from New York for these tests. I am scared to think what they will all cost.

Other, also mostly feet:

I switched gynecologists because mine closed his practice.
My new doc wanted a glucose tolerance test, with several other tests thrown in.

She also wants me tested for Lyme Disease, which I will go do as soon as either of my arms heals up. Lyme can attack joints and show nothing on an MRI. Lyme is also one of those lifelong diseases: once you've got it, you're forever waiting for the next flareup. Lyme is best treated immediately. Me, if I do have it I've had it for seventeen years. Not much hope there. I'm torn between hoping I don't have it, because goodness knows I don't need another lifelong health problem, and hoping I do, because if my foot problems are Lyme then what I have is something doctors have heard of. That alone would have immense value.

She also gave me injectable B-vitamin supplements. I am getting better about needles, really I am. I didn't get woozy at all during the glucose tolerance test. I even know how to do subcutaneous injections. I've done them for years on my cat. I know how to prepare the syringe. I have alcohol swabs. So I sat there looking at the needle in one hand and the fold of my own skin in the other... and stayed that way for about twenty minutes before I gave up. It's just not going to happen. I think I will ask a diabetic coworker and see if she's willing to be on the other end of the syringe for my first one. :-( [edit: She was. It went fine. I am so grateful!]

Comments

[hopeforyou.livejournal.com]

I've been catching up on LJ lately and it seems I've stumbled on something I might be able to help you with...

I recommend getting a Lyme test from more than one lab, and try Igenix because they test on bands outside of the CDC reference bands. Know that Lyme tests are not very accurate and Lyme is generally a clinically diagnosed condition. Also know that while doctors have heard of it, a lot of them are skeptical about it being a chronic, long-term condition. This was made worse by the IDSA getting power in stating guidelines for Lyme treatment for the CDC, but they have been under investigation and have a lot to answer for (see yesterday's postings on the IDSA on lyme_disease).

I sincerely hope you do not have this disease. I didn't need it either. But if you do, there is a path to follow that will help and potentially you can get symptom improvement.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Igenix is where I'm going, yep. I'll probably never have a true diagnosis, because I have no commonly-recognized clinical symptoms of Lyme. But this doctor has seen cases before where people with pain in or near joints have had no other Lyme-related symptoms, but have tested positive for Lyme, and upon treatment, have had their pain recede. Fingers crossed. 'Sall I can do.

This disease is a truly sucky one. I wish you didn't have it. :-(

[tryslora]

My boss' daughter has lyme and the only symptom she ever had was that her hip hurt. Badly, right in the joint. So it can definitely hide.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Scary stuff. Gah. I suppose at least I'd have an explanation, and that would be worth a lot...

[airporter.livejournal.com]

Explanations are worth everything sometimes!

I have TMJ (well-managed now, thank goodness) - when I first developed the migraines that go with it so often (at 16) the doctors all said it was a psychosomatic response to having my wisdom teeth removed.

Ten years later I was given a physical reason.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh yikes. That's awful.

[airporter.livejournal.com]

Nah, it's just what happens when you take an isolated approach to medical problems - had anyone looked much beyond the symptoms they'd have found the answers much sooner. It's not like I didn't already know I had issues - I just didn't need Doctors adding new ones! :D

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Sure, but ten years without knowing is rough. I feel for ya. Glad you finally got an explanation!

[tryslora]

That's why I mentioned it. Sometimes, even if it's not a good answer, just KNOWING something is such a relief.

I hope that some answer comes back in the blood, or from the dude in NYC. I'm keeping all my fingers crossed for you!!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, even if it's not a good answer, just KNOWING something is such a relief.

No kidding! Some days I envy people with really nasty diagnoses, simply because they HAVE diagnoses. This is partially silly, of course, but partially very real and sane.

Thanks for the finger-crossing. I'll take all the help I can get! :-)

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

I totally get the need to have some sort of diagnosis, a better starting point.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Amen to that. I know you went quite some time without one, too... and I know being called a puzzle doesn't necessarily help. :-(