Hello Friends!

I haven't been here for a while but thought I'd fill all of you in on my son's health and my appointment with the rheumatologist.

My son, who had a MRSA staph infection, is doing well. He is still on IV antibiotics at home but his blood work came back all normal this week so they may pull his PICC line & he'll be done with the antibiotics! His foot (where the infection affected the bone) is still a tiny bit swollen compared to the other foot but he's walking without the crutches & hopefully will be able to go back to school next week. That's all good news!

Now, my Dr. appointment. This was the absolute worst Dr. appointment I've ever had! I waited for over 2 hours beyond my appointment time.The entire office was unorganized and looked as though it hadn't been cleaned since the 60's. The waiting room was standing room only. I was the youngest person there...I'm 46. I found out, just as I was getting ready to leave, that part of the reason for the wait was that they were having lunch. My appointment was at 2:00! Lunch time was two hours prior! I spent an entire afternoon waiting & part of the time was so they could eat!I was not happy since I needed to get home to start my son's IV which was an hour late...over 2 hours late by the time I got home. Since my son's infection, I've become a manic handwasher. Apparently this Dr doesn't think it's important because he didn't wash his hands! Instead, he used one of those alcohol pads (you know, the tiny ones they use before they give you a shot?) and wiped off his fingertips. My appointment was Monday 2 weeks ago. I managed to contract pink-eye over the weekend ao I went to the nurse practitioner at our local Rite-Aid to get the eye drops for it. I also see a nurse practitioner at my PCP office. When I told the Dr that I went to a nurse practitioner, he nearly blew a gasket! He talked down to me about making irresponsible decisons about my health care. It was a horrible examination. He had an intern with him (which was fine)but he treated me as if I were some kind of lab specimin! He talked into a tape recorder the whole time and when the intern couldn't answer a question that the Dr asked, the nurse's aid (that was in the room too)raised her hand to "take a shot" at the answer! By this time I was wondering where the hidden camera was because this couldn't be for real! After they all left the room, I got dressed (oh yes, I was laying there, in my undies, for all to see & guess at my diagnosis!) and went to the Dr's office where he continued to preach to me about how terrible nurse practitioners are. Then he told me that my elevated ANA (1:160) and SED rate (29) were not important. He said that he thinks I have fibromyalgia and/or a pinched nerve. He told me to get an MRI to see if I have a pinced nerve. He told me to go for physical therapy which I later found out was only a video on exercise. He prescribed Desyrel which I think is an anti-anxiety medication. I'm not doing any of these things and I'm not going back to that Dr.! I am going to report him to my insurance company and find another doctor.

Now, my question, for any of you who can help is this: Can my ANA and SED rate be elevated & not mean anything? From what I've read there aren't any tests for Fibromyalgia. The diagnosis is usually base on symptoms. So my elevated readings shouldn't have anything to do woth fibromyalgia.

I'm sorry this is so long. If any of you actually talked to me you'd find that I talk just like I type...alot!
Thanks for always being there to listen & help. I guess it's "back to the drawing board" for me!

Jennifer