clean bill of health!

so i finally was able to meet with my Rheumatologist the other day.  I never know what to expect, since the last time I met with him, he made it sound like I was deteriorating fast and that I should switch from methotrexate (MTX) to enbrel/etanercept pretty quickly.  this time, he made it seem like i was doing great, and even emphasizing it by pumping his arm when he said it.

“you’re doing great!” *arm pump*

i think he just forgot how our last meeting went.  that happens when you don’t see your patients for months and months at a time.  my previous rheumatologist met with me every month for the better part of a year, which kind of drove me insane to have to drive out every month and take time off of work, but he really worked to build that relationship.  he made me feel like he cared about me and really knew my history and symptomology.  true, he may have just been better at reading charts before meeting patients than my new rheum., but whatever it was, i appreciated it!

we went over my labs, which he said were okay.  i had had some previous scares with low WBC, but they were holding steady at 3.9 for the past two tests.  i think they had dipped down to 2 or lower in those scary moments.  but now i’m holding somewhat steady at 3.9.  I guess a normal person has between 4-5, so I’m close enough to that to be considered okay.

it’s funny, he kept saying “you’re young, you’re healthy” during our conversation.  now that i think about it, my last rheum. did that, too.  they both refer to the fact that i’m healthy.  but isn’t it kind of weird to call a girl with an autoimmune disease “healthy”?  in any case, i was updated him on my vaccines to make sure everything was spiffy (it was), and he said it was okay for me to take mtx and the stuff the travel clinic prescribed me for Peru.  all in all, a clean bill of health!

oh, and an update on the whole lost P.I.C. thing: turns out his friend passed away, so he had been in hiding for a little bit.  silly how certain things will slap the perspective right back into a person/situation.

anyway, Peru plans are slowly being cemented down (YAY!).  wish me luck!