A Young Wife’s Tale

I’m so excited to feature Pam Stokes Hunter as a guest blogger today! Pam is a very happily married 43 year old SAHM. Her kids are 15 & 17. You can read more about Pam and her struggles with fibromyalgia on her blog, The Journey Leads Home.

I’ve been doing some comparing this weekend. I have been comparing this Christmas season to last Christmas season. I believe I can honestly say last year was the worse Christmas I can remember having. To be completely honest with you I don’t really even remember much of it. I don’t even remember Christmas Day at all. That has nothing to do with my chronic illnesses. After having foot surgery on my right foot the first part of December I thought our holiday season was gonna be spent with me on bed rest with a cast and crutches and everyone waiting on me hand and foot. Little did I know that that was gonna be the least of my concerns although the cast and crutches part was true. After the first week I didn’t get a chance to spend much time in bed. If you are a regular reader of mine then you know that the last year has been the biggest battle in my family’s life.

*Did you know David doesn’t wear a wedding ring? I bought him a white gold band when we got married. He lost it within a few months. We bought a cheap replacement band made of tungsten, but he never wears it. He says it bothers his hands. It’s strange to me because he never mentions his hands hurting. The joints that bother him the most are his vertebra, hips, knees and wrists. He does have psoriatic arthritis in every joint in his body, except his shoulders, but his hands are still stronger than mine. He opens jars for me all the time.

Today, during David’s appointment, the rheumatologist only seemed concerned that David is able to work. While the ability to work may be a good measure of health for some, it is not for David. David is a computer programmer. He could do his work lying in bed. It isn’t a job like say, a plumber or a paramedic, that requires a lot of movement.

The rheumatologist thinks David doesn’t have arthritis. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even believe David has psoriasis. He thinks David has fibromyalgia. However, David is not tender to the touch, and from what I understand you need at least 11 out of 18 tender spots to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Still, the Lyrica (a fibro medicine) is helping David significantly.

Maybe David does have fibromyalgia in addition to psoriatic arthritis. I was so skeptical when the New Jersey rheumatologist said David might have fibromyalgia, but David swears the Lyrica is helping. I guess maybe those doctors do learn a thing or two in medical school. We were so blessed that the doctor had six sample bottles of Lyrica to give us so we could really give it a good trial before we have to start paying for it.

The rheumatologist now has David’s file from the Texas’ rheumatologist, so I’m anxious for his appointment in two weeks. I can’t wait to hear what he says now that he has David’s original labs and bone scan.

David saw his New Jersey rheumatologist again last week. He still doesn’t have David’s file from his Texas rheumatologist. They’ve sent a second copy, but I’m tired of calling back and forth between the two offices. I want the offices to talk to each other. We signed a release form. My TMJ specialists can talk to each other. Why can’t rheumatologists? I want the NJ doctor’s office to call me when they receive the file so I can quit calling them to ask about it. And if his file is on CD, why can’t they just email it?

It was a frustrating visit all around. The NJ rheumatologist thinks David doesn’t have arthritis. David has never had swelling in his joints. David’s blood work and new x-rays looked “perfectly healthy” to the doctor. David is on “one medication from almost every classification of drugs”, but he’s in extreme pain. He’s not in remission. The rheumatologist thinks that if David has arthritis, he should be responding to all the medication. He thinks David has fibromyalgia. But, the rheumatologist is hesitant to take David off of anything until he sees David’s complete file and bone scan.