Monday, April 6, 2009

Found a new Primary care Doc

So, I talked with some docs and nurses that night at work, and they recommended me to a doc at, of all places, a urgent care clinic. I was leery at first, but trusted these guys' judgement. So, I saw Dr. S. He did all kinds of lab work, a skin biopsy, an EKG, and a chest xray; and told me to follow up in about 2 weeks. Other than the trip to my ER doc, this was the most thorough exam I had been given.
I ended up going back in about 1 1/2 weeks, because I was too thoroughly miserable to wait any longer. Dr. S was shocked at the advancement in my symptoms. He had my results back, but nothing was exceedingly conclusive. At this point, he felt there was definitely somethign wrong with me, and gave me the tentative diagnosis of HSP vasculitis, although he also told me he would have to send me to a specialist, because I had surpassed the level of care he could give.
The clinic made all the arrangements necessary, and sent me over to a Dermatologist (it would be a year before I'd understand the rationale there). She did 2 more skin biopsies, for 2 different tests, and started me on a medication called Dapsone. I read up on it before I picked it up from the pharmacy. Much to my dismay, it is a drug used to treat skin infections in people with AIDS. Great, that would be fun to pick up from the pharmacy. Especially since I looked like I had leprosy, at worst; smallpox at best.
The short version of this event is that it did work, kinda, for several months. The joint pains lessened, the rash pretty much went away (although it would flare frequently and we'd increase my "AIDS" medicine.
In June, we moved to Colorado, and things changed again....

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