I am a twenty-nine-year-old female who is in the midst of a diagnosis. First off, my mother has an overlap of Sjogren's and scleroderma. Last year I developed Raynaud's.
I was fine until this summer when I began waking up with sore and swollen hands. I self-diagnosed myself with having rheumatoid arthritis. I finally decided to see my doctor when I could not even straighten my fingers without pain and discomfort and was feeling extremely lethargic.
The doctor ran tests. My ANA was positive with a speckled pattern, my ESR was elevated, and my rheumatoid factor was elevated. Also my hemoglobin and white blood counts were low. She referred me to a rheumatologist, but I do not see him until April, which is five months from now since we only have one in the city.
Since then I have begun swelling in my pelvic area and my lower legs, ankles and feet. Everyone tells me my eyes are always puffy. I am going back to my doctor tomorrow as I am concerned with possible fluid build up in and around my lungs or heart. My blood pressure was more elevated than usual and I am still so extremely tired.
I just want to say thank you for this invaluable site. I plan to learn as much as I can and come out on top of it all.
Keua Email: [email protected] Story edited 11-02-05 JTD Story posted 11-18-05 SLE ISN Senior Artist: Sherrill Knaggs Story Editor: Judith Devlin |
LINKS ANA Causes of Scleroderma: Genetics Difficult Diagnosis Raynaud's Stories Rheumatoid Arthritis Scleroderma Sjogren's What is Scleroderma? |
Sherrill Knaggs, ISN Artist, created the digital photo to illustrate the story on this page. Sherrill lived in New Zealand. Her story was featured in ISN's book, Voices of Scleroderma Volume 2.
Judith Thompson Devlin is the ISN Story Editor for this story. She is also lead editor of the ISN's wonderful Voices of Scleroderma book series!
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