i was thinking...
the past few days my hands have exploded in vasculitis, and it's creeping around and coming back on other parts of me, and it's been painful, and i've been thinking. maybe one or both of my meds isn't a high enough dosage because of my weight. yeah, lupus made me lose 40 pounds without trying, but i'm still a fattie. and i know that doctors tend to under-dose, or assign dosages for the ideal weight, regardless of what the patient actually weighs.
my rheumatologist called me back today, having just gotten the message that justin called for me yesterday. she's a busy woman, and i'm infinitely grateful she called back. she was shocked that i was getting a whole new crop of vasculitis spots. "until the plaquenil [note: this is the suppressant drug that i'll likely be on for years] builds up enough in your system, i'm thinking the medrol [note: active form of prednisone, a steroid] might not be enough because of your weight. *performs calculations* let's double the medrol and check back in a week."
me: "i see you on the 30th."
rheum: "perfect! then once the plaquenil is at the right level, we'll lower the dosage of medrol."
me: "awesome!"
i'm such a smart cookie sometimes.
i'm also very lucky. i went to the eye doctor because my eyes had been bloodshot two days in a row... now it's been at least four. i've got some vasculitis in my eyes, some popped blood vessels, etc., so the doctor prescribed me a steroid drop. yay! it'll make it better. i can do that. i asked him if there was anything to be done about the angry skin on my eyelids. he said yes, but he'd defer to the dermatologist, given my big diagnosis.
luckily, the dermatologist's office is four buildings away. mom and i stopped in to leave a note for the doctor. instead, i waited about 15 minutes, saw the nurse practitioner who gave me a big bag of samples of a prescription gel that my insurance won't cover (she knows from experience), and didn't charge me for the visitation. she told me that they haven't seen a patient as sick as me in YEARS, and two weeks after my last appointment there, my case is still a regular lunchtime conversation piece.
damn.
and then when my rheumatologist called, she also mentioned that i have been one of the worst cases she's ever seen. and she's treated thousands of patients. hot damn. i hope i end up in a medical journal or something.
overall, i am so very grateful that i have insurance, have amazing doctors who are both talented and wonderfully caring, and people who are going above and beyond to take care of me. i am so, so thankful. because, quite literally, without all this, i would likely be deathly ill, and i'm not even exaggerating.
my rheumatologist called me back today, having just gotten the message that justin called for me yesterday. she's a busy woman, and i'm infinitely grateful she called back. she was shocked that i was getting a whole new crop of vasculitis spots. "until the plaquenil [note: this is the suppressant drug that i'll likely be on for years] builds up enough in your system, i'm thinking the medrol [note: active form of prednisone, a steroid] might not be enough because of your weight. *performs calculations* let's double the medrol and check back in a week."
me: "i see you on the 30th."
rheum: "perfect! then once the plaquenil is at the right level, we'll lower the dosage of medrol."
me: "awesome!"
i'm such a smart cookie sometimes.
i'm also very lucky. i went to the eye doctor because my eyes had been bloodshot two days in a row... now it's been at least four. i've got some vasculitis in my eyes, some popped blood vessels, etc., so the doctor prescribed me a steroid drop. yay! it'll make it better. i can do that. i asked him if there was anything to be done about the angry skin on my eyelids. he said yes, but he'd defer to the dermatologist, given my big diagnosis.
luckily, the dermatologist's office is four buildings away. mom and i stopped in to leave a note for the doctor. instead, i waited about 15 minutes, saw the nurse practitioner who gave me a big bag of samples of a prescription gel that my insurance won't cover (she knows from experience), and didn't charge me for the visitation. she told me that they haven't seen a patient as sick as me in YEARS, and two weeks after my last appointment there, my case is still a regular lunchtime conversation piece.
damn.
and then when my rheumatologist called, she also mentioned that i have been one of the worst cases she's ever seen. and she's treated thousands of patients. hot damn. i hope i end up in a medical journal or something.
overall, i am so very grateful that i have insurance, have amazing doctors who are both talented and wonderfully caring, and people who are going above and beyond to take care of me. i am so, so thankful. because, quite literally, without all this, i would likely be deathly ill, and i'm not even exaggerating.