Lupus

Ever have one of those years that all you want to do is climb into bed and refuse to move until next January 1st? For me, that is this year has been one of those and for good measure I might just hide in my bed until the end of next year too!
Last fall my feet started hurting so bad is was excruciating to walk at times. I called my doctor and she gave me the go ahead to contact a podiatrist. He informed me I had Metatarsalgia, told me no weight baring activities and sent me through 6 weeks of pain and torture, I mean physical therapy. After 6 weeks of PT I was still having major problems, he tested me for Rheumatoid Arthritis. That is when I became a vegetarian (there is an enzyme in a lot of meats that can cause inflammation). The test came back negative, at which point I think the doctor stopped listening to me which resulted in me not listening to him anymore. My feet still remind me they aren’t happy, sometimes they downright hurt, other times they are just a little tender. During this same time, my knee started acting up. Great! Now I am a hypochondriac.
After good hard workouts my blood sugar would crash (or that’s what it felt like), but it was always wait until I was done. A few weeks ago, it happened during a workout and it was one of the worst ones yet. So I figured it was time to go to the doc. Since I am not a huge fan of going to the doc, I went with a shopping list! She said she only had time for a few items (which is understandable). So I hit on my knee, my weight, and something else, I don’t remember. I walked out of there with the name of an ortho doc, a blood sugar tester (she wanted to know how low I was going), a lab slip for a full work-up and I am sure there was something else, but I can’t remember what it was. Within a week I was seeing the ortho and had an MRI scheduled. Lab tests came back, thyroid was well out of normal range. My doc had scheduled a follow up for six weeks to go over all my numbers and see how my thyroid was doing.
MRI showed cartilage behind my knee cap was going away (but that is not where the pain was). Doc told me to stop running, when he realized that was not happening he told me what I needed to do to protect my knee (I am very good about listening to that advice).
Yesterday I was in the doc’s office and the first question she asked was ‘does anyone in your family have a connective tissue dieses?” I had no idea what she was talking about, then I reminded her that no one in my family likes to go to the doc so, no idea! Then she started in on the lupus. My blood test was positive, the physical issues I have been having, the ‘over hydration’ I suffer, and the list goes on, makes her pretty sure it is lupus that has been wrecking havoc on my body. Now I go back in 4 – 6 months to see what my number is (in about a year they had doubled). I have to watch my sun exposure (I love being in the sun; my car has a sunroof, the weather is getting beautiful so I drive with as many window as possible opened; my boys love going to Elitch Gardens during the summer so much we have to get season passes…). Obviously it is something that will have to be dealt with, but STOP! This year has been Kiddo #1 hitting the ER twice (first time was because Kiddo #2 found him face down unresponsive in his room – turned out it was a seizure), Grandfather dying, Kiddo #2 having a serious episode, etc. No more, please?