Direction...

Well, most of you, if not all of you, know that I had a neurology appointment today...to get started finding out what is going on with me. Well...I now have a definitive direction of where I'm headed...and what's ahead.

Dr. Mieden (the neurologist) started out the usual..."Tell me what's been going on, as chronologically as you can..blah blah blah." Anyway, I told him everything that I could think of, with of course, Mama adding in a few things that slipped my mind. Then, he began doing some "physical" tests on me. The pin prick test, strength tests, reflexes, etc. As we talked and he tested...he pretty much ruled out MS...which was a big sigh of relief. He continued on and said that he was pretty sure it's Lupus. That out of 13 classic signs, I was exhibiting 5 of those signs, which is just about half...and he was pretty sure that's what it is. He also basically told me there really isn't much that HE can do for me, and wants me to get an MRI of my brain to rule out any tumors, growths, funky things going on there, etc and then to see a rheumatologist. So, now we wait. Why the wait you ask? It's this little thing called "insurance"!! They have to contact my insurance carrier and get pre-approval for the MRI. Once that's done, they'll call me and we'll schedule the MRI. Then, once those results come back, I'll see Dr. Mieden again to discuss and go over that. Once we do that, they will contact Dr. Ziolkowska in Asheboro...that's the rheumatologist. At that point, that's when the big battery of tests will probably begin...to rule out other things like RA (rheumatoid arthritis), probably additional tests to rule out MS even further, etc. Not sure when all this will take place...so for now it's just the waiting game.

He also prescribed me some medication to help with the muscle pain and get me through. I got that script filled this afternoon and took the first one around 330pm or so and already I can actually feel the effects of it helping me to relax more...and I'm not hurting like I was before the visit.

Already I do feel better emotionally b/c at least now I have a sense of where I'm headed and have something to definitively KNOW. I'm going to hit the web once I finish this post and do a little research on Lupus. In all honesty, I never even considered Lupus, though I knew that it could possibly be a diagnosis. But it was way down in the list. Anyway, off to google now to check out Lupus and what my prognosis is and find other tips and tricks to help manage it aside from the medication. Will update and post more as I find out.