Doctor Visit

Good morning. 

Be forewarned, this post may jump all over the place, thought wise, but I will try my best to get it organized before posting.

I saw my rheumatologist yesterday. It had been three months since my last visit. It has also been 4 months of Humira. Humira is working for my joint pain. Plus, I do not get a negative reaction at the injection site, like I did with Enbrel. One other surprising benefit, my lower GI issue, which I have had since the early 1990's. However, it only helps with my psoriasis, the reason for changing biologic, for roughly 4-5 days. That is a lot of time between injections to suffer with the inflammation and itching. My next two options are Otezla or Stelara - just to get my psoriasis back under control, hoping they will still benefit my Rheumatoid Disease.

We also discussed the edema in my legs, which has not improved since I mentioned it last year. My heart is palpitating again, a lot of times for no reason, or so it seems. 

Plan of attack? 

1. Go to the dermatologist and see what she wants to do. 
2. Try to get my recent stress under control, hoping to reduce inflammation.
3. See a GI doc because lower GI issues seemed to "fix" with Humira
4. See a cardiologist because of my edema and palpitations
5. Rest as much as possible, keep legs up
6. Reduce hand use because of swelling and pain

I am already working on the appointments. The rest and limited use of my hands, I need to figure out ways to do what I enjoy.

The one thing I do not like about my visits with my rheum doc, is how fast she has to handle patients. I think she has patients who are in for their follow-ups scheduled every 10 minutes. That gives her nurse time to do the vitals and her to do her assessment of the patient's condition. When she walks into the room, she doesn't sit, the computer stand raises and she types everything we discuss from there. While she does her exam, I ask questions. My time with her is precious, and half of the time, I forget my questions or concerns. Yesterday, however, I had notes. I asked as fast as I could because once she finished the physical exam of my joints, she was ready to leave. I know if she doesn't press the "chess timer" fast enough, there are repercussions. 

The other thing I do not like is having to go somewhere else to get my blood drawn. I wait no less than 20 minutes. They have 5-6 phlebotomists working in the lab, the problem comes when the computer system is running slow and the lab work orders are hung up in digital never-never land. There were 10 of us sitting in the waiting room for 15-20 minutes after the last lab was drawn, because the orders had not arrived. You could see the phlebotomists standing around and chatting.

There are two upsides to both of those downers. I can message my rheum doc and she will get back to me the same day, if not within an hour of the message, with answers and help. She is one who truly cares about her patients, but because of where she works, her one-on-one time is limited. That, to me, seems like the business is concerned more about the financial income rather than the patients' health or concerns.

The lab results, they come back the same day. I already have my results from yesterday. My kidneys and liver are functioning well. My sed-rate and c-reactive protein are within normal limits. Sed-rate is increasing, but this tells me Humira is working to keep the inflammation markers in check. Which explains the lack of joint pain, unless I have a quick flare.  

Anyway, that is the exciting events from yesterday's doctor visit.