4/28/24

Today is Sunday.  I went to visit my little brother in Idaho last week and had the flight from Hell getting up there.  I was 6 hours late and had to fly to San Francisco on an alternate route.  Geez.  Coming home, I made my flight with 4 minutes to spare.  I hate American Airlines now.  It usually takes bout 12 hours to get there, and that's already a long day - I don't need issues in route.

 All of my test results are back and a lot of them are abnormal. I do have some good news, though. There is no evidence of my old cancer. But, that’s where the good news ends. My rheumatoid factor is high, and my anti-nuclear factor is high. Both of these factors indicate a systemic auto immune rheumatic disease like cancer and inflammatory arthritis. They also indicate systemic sclerosis. It affects the esophagus,  lower G.I. tract, lungs, heart, and kidneys. There is no cure, but they can treat the symptoms. It will affect my esophageal functions, which we already know I have an issue with. Cardio pulmonary manifestations and renal manifestations are on the list, also. Rheumatoid arthritis is high on the list. I will have to see a specialist for that and I still need a bone marrow biopsy. The tests point toward a different type of cancer and more testing is needed. She has called in a Medrol dose pack to my pharmacy and after I finish that I will start prednisone. I’m not sure what’s next because I was a bit overwhelmed by the phone call. I take anti-inflammatory medicine now for my arthritis, but she said my arthritis is severe enough that they will have little affect. Pool physical therapy is one of the best things I can do, and I am currently doing that twice a week, so that is good.

I want y’all to know that I am OK. I am at peace. I probably have left out some stuff, but I was doing good just to get all of this down from one phone call.  I will hopefully learn more tomorrow, Monday, and will share my news as I receive it.

Did I tell you that I recently had to go to the ER?


I had a crack in my butt.  Ha! Ha!


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