I decided to take a few weeks off from my health, hence the lack of posting. I sometimes get to a point where I just need a break from doctors visits, tests, etc., so I instead focus all of my energy on other things. That's not to say I haven't been feeling horrible, because I have; I just chose to try and ignore it and move on with my life.
During my break I spent most of it hard at work, but also managed a little fun time as well. I saw a few old co-workers/friends for a nice lunch. Brad and I went to Cincinnati (actually right spent most of it across the river in Kentucky) for a couple of days during the Memorial Day holiday, which was mentally and emotionally refreshing. It was nice to just hang out, not have a schedule and just take it easy for about 48 hours. We also spent about a half a day with an old friend of mine that I had not seen in a couple of years, and just had a wonderful, fun time.
Unfortunately I'm back to the pain levels I was at before the surgery with my legs, and where I was back in January with my arms and hands. The cortisone injections I had in both wrists back in February helped a lot, but I think with the driving to/from Baltimore and all of the time spent at work on the computer I'm now back to wearing splints 90% of my day. I'm also back to the severe nighttime pain; I've woken up three nights in a row with the horrible arm pain and have had to sleep in the recliner in order to keep the pain as minimal as possible. The leg pain is unexplainable. My joints are very swollen and the pain radiates from them. It does appear different than before the surgery. Every step is painful, and even just sitting is horrible. The only position semi-comfortable is in the recliner, leaned back, sitting indian-style with my knees, calves and feet on a pillow.
As for the game plan, I have a few things I know need to do. 1) Make an appointment with my primary care doctor. My mom thinks I could have celiac disease so I'm going to get tested. Brad wants me to get tested for Lyme again, since I did have it for four years as a kid. I'm not as convinced on either, but we'll see what the tests say. 2) Make an appointment with a rheumatologist. My ANA count is still too high and my platelet count still too low. 3) Make an appointment with the hand surgeon and come up with a date for the carpal tunnel surgery. The soonest they could get me in for a visit is mid-July, so I'm going to play the "privileged" card here and see if my dad can talk with the doctor and get me in sooner. The doctor is also the chief medical officer so they work together daily and have a good relationship. Compared to everything else I've been through the hand surgery should be a pretty simple procedure and recovery. I just need to time it correctly so I'm not having it done during an important time in the work cycle.
I can't say I'm happy to still be in this position, but there's nothing I can do about it. I'm a bit sick of it all, but I don't have a choice in the matter. But...there are worse things.
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