New Normal

What is the new normal at the Landes house?  Basically it feels a bit like one of these....

Up and down. Up and down. When I wake up in the morning, I never know what kind of day I am going to have. Some days I wake up feeling great only to crash a few hours later. Some days start slow only to get better. Some days the fatigue is so heavy I can barely function. And some days, out of the blue, I am hit with stomach issues. Kind of makes it hard to plan to do anything in advance.  On top of all that, I have a lot of aches and pains, mainly joint and muscle related.

I went to see the rheumatologist on Monday. It was a 3 hour doctor appointment! Of course, half of that was waiting to get in to see Dr. Huff. I had done my homework on this doctor and that was the number one complaint, but the reason he is always running behind is because he takes his time with his patients. I sat in the waiting room that day and prayed that I would be able to tell him everything I needed to. Dr. Huff lived up to his reputation and the wait was worth it. He did take his time with me and I was able to leave feeling like the appointment was thorough and he had the information he needed to help me.

At the beginning of the appointment, he did not feel like lupus was the culprit. Although I have tested positive on the ANA test, my number was not extremely high. As we went through the examination and talk, he began saying that it could be lupus after all or a related autoimmune disease. He felt the inflammation in my joints and told me the chest pain I have been experiencing is pleurisy. The big mystery is the stomach issues. He speculated that they could be caused by inflammation in the abdomen which would make sense. I had a CT scan done two days before I got violently ill. The CT scan showed fluid in my abdomen which obviously is a sign of inflammation.

At the end of the appointment, he ordered a ton of tests. I headed to the lab and had 12 vials of blood taken!! Kind of threw me for a loop as well as the nurse. The nurse told me that he had never taken that much blood at once. They took 7 vials from one vein before it gave out and they had to move to another vein for the remaining 5 vials. If these tests don't give us a definitive answer one way or the other, then I don't know what will. Dr. Huff gave me a prescription for prednisone hoping that would decrease the inflammation and in turn give me some relief from the fatigue. And maybe even stop the stomach episodes. I almost told him that if he could make all of this go away, I would kiss his feet but I didn't think that would make a good first impression.:)

Praise God ....
*The fatigue has lifted somewhat this past week. I haven't had a "bad" day for 8 days now.
*That the appointment was thorough and that Dr. Huff seems knowledgable, trustworthy, and caring.
*For the many people who have stepped up to help us with childcare during all these doctor appointments (Jess, Pat, Shari, Paul, Amanda)
*For my oldest son, Isaac, who has taken it upon himself to take care of his Mama. He gets up early, makes breakfast for himself and his siblings,and even gets Caleb up. He even changed a poopy diaper once.

Prayer Requests...
*That these tests would be clear and definitive on the cause and direction to take
*That I can put the waiting out of my mind. I will not see Dr. Huff until June 6th, so I will not know anything more until then.
*That the fatigue, aches, pains, and stomach episodes would be kept at bay
*That the prednisone would help relieve symptoms and not cause more troubling side effects.

Thank you to all who have prayed for me the past few months. I know what I am experiencing is not life threatening, but it has been quite debilitating. So I appreciate you taking my concerns to the Lord.