This week is totally crazy. I am still packing and closing is on Thursday.
Then...I have a house! .I did manage to squeeze in an appointment to
have an upper endoscopy done. I have had GI issues for years and the RD
referred me to a GI dr. last year. I had a colonscopy done a few months
ago. That showed minor inflammation but nothing conclusive. So, the GI
has been lobbying to get the upper one done. What joy!
Anyway, this dr. totally knocks you out for this procedure. I know others
who do it differently. He said that he saw one area of concern and he took
a few biopsies. Pictures did look cool and I can see what he his talking
about. He did mention one illness that you guys may or may not have
heard of. It is called Whipple's Disease. It is very very rare. He has only
seen two cases and he said that is twice as much as any of his colleagues.
It seems that it mimics RA to the point that Rheumatologists don't realize
it until it is too late. It is a bacteria that actually invades the cell. As the
cell reproduces, so does the bacteria. I am the science nerd so I actually
find all this very cool. If caught, it is very treatable but it takes a long
time. You are hospitalized for about two weeks for IV antibiotics and then
take oral ones for about 2 years. Now, here is the scary part-untreated it
is fatal since the bacteria spread to the other organs. That is how it is
usually found....autopsies. The one guy he diagnosed had been
diagnosed with RA for 15 years! He had actually had joint replacements! It
seems the the joint symptoms appear years before the GI symptoms-that
is why it is so hard to diagnose. Isn't that crazy?!?!? Once treated there is
a chance of it coming back so you need followups. But, if it reappears you
begin the meds again. The RA symptoms disappear! Obviouisly, the
damage will remain but--cool!
Once again, he doesn't think that I have this but since I have the RA label
he is running the test for it. It takes quite a while and has to be sent to
another type of lab. He is expecting to find inflammation in the cells that
he biopsied and he will decipher all that later.
I just think it is crazy that there is a disease like that out there. I asked
him...wouldn't it be a blessing if I did have Whipple's after all? I mean, talk
about a change in overall prognosis! It would literally be like a one in a
million diagnosis. Or maybe on in a billion. Just thought that this was
worth sharing.
OK...back to packing.
Yeah, that'd be great....hope it goes that way for you I mean, can you imagine finding out that your RA is really just a big mistake??? That's HUGE. I know you will, but keep us posted.Well, I'll wish it but I think the chances are better that I would win the
lottery. Or get struck by lightning, or killed by a goat.....Maybe so, but this would be so much better. Especially better than the goat thing
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