About two weeks ago I spoke with my Rheumatologist, she had asked me to go in and get 4 more blood tests done... the main one she was wanting is a follow-up test for Rheumatoid Arthritis. Last year, my Family Practitioner had me do several blood tests - one was a Rheumatoid Factor test, along with an ANA Test (for Lupus), my inflammation levels, and several to check the functionality of my heart & kidneys. All came back normal except for my inflammation levels. For a person my age and weight, my inflammation should be somewhere between 0-20. At the time, mine was at a 30. Last month, it had increased to a 39 - I have nearly double the amount of inflammation as others my age & weight. This "follow-up" test is kind of like a back up test for the RF test... a lot of people who do indeed have RA, test negative for the RF test, but positive for this newer test (I can't remember the name, can you tell?). To all of our shock, all my tests from 2 weeks ago came back normal. I thought this meant that we were back to square one. I was so discouraged. It's not like I want to have RA, but I want to have a name - ANYTHING to explain why my body has started a full out war against me. My doc had asked me to call her back in 2-3 days, as soon as the results were in. Long story short, 2 weeks later (today) I finally spoke to her. Until our conversation, I had no idea that she'd already realized it was a type of RA that was invading my body - she just wasn't sure which type (I didn't know there was more than one). My inflammation levels being so high, but my RA tests coming back negative left her with the answer. I have Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis, along with severe Fibromyalgia (and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Endometriosis - whew, I'm exhausted!).
The ringer in all this is that I have a rheumatoid nodules under my skin, which is only characteristic of traditional RA, not Seronegative RA. Soooo, that being said, her conclusion is this...
I currently have Seronegative RA, however, she believes that come the next few months or years, my blood tests will begin to show my rheumatoid factor and I'll eventually have full-blown traditional RA. JOY.
Here's what I know:
Seronegative RA has all the same symptoms as traditional RA. Although comparatively, Seronegative RA is thought to progess at a slower pace and usually the joint damage isn't as severe. This is WONDERFUL news. The downside is that because patients that have Seronegative RA don't have rheumatoid factor, the progression can't be tract as it can be with traditional RA patients... so essentially there's absolutely no way of knowing how progressive mine is. This causes a problem because I'm already showing symptoms (ex: rheumatoid nodules under my skin, etc) of traditional RA... so how much time I have between now and then isn't measurable.
RA was mentioned last year when I went to my family pracitioner (as was Lupus, Kidney Disease, and Congestive Heart Failure)... I did some research at the time. Lets just say that RA isn't the funnest thing to deal with. All day today I've tried to focus on the win of finally knowing what was going on inside my body. But now, as I'm sitting outside on my hammock in horrible pain even after popping Lortabs, it's hitting me. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. There is a strong chance I'll be somewhat (if not completely) crippled before I hit middle age.
And that new reality SUCKS!
And that new reality SUCKS!
