Today I visited my pain management doctor's office. However Dr. Sontag wasn't in today so I met with his nurse practitioner. I was anxious to go over my test results for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and for Lupus. The disease that I was most worried about was RA, since it runs in my family. My grandma and my aunt has this. I felt there was a good chance I had this too since I was experiencing so much pain. Lupus was never something I worried about.
When I asked the nurse to look at my results she carefully read over the test results. She said I was negative for RA. Oh good, I was about ready to leave when she got a concerned look on her face and said, "I will be right back, I am going to go talk to one of the doctors.
My heart dropped. The only test she would be referring to was the test for Lupus. As I waited for the nurse to return, my palms started sweating, my hands were shaking, and my eye was twitching. Every time a heard a person walk by, I hoped it was the nurse. Finally, after the longest 5 minutes ever, the nurse came back in. She said that she couldn't find a doctor but that I had tested positive for ANA and for DNA antibodies, "but these tests are inconclusive. So I will have the doctor call you tonight after he looks over these."
So now I am thinking about the possibility that I might have Lupus and my eye is twitching and won't stop. I am so anxious right now. Nothing will calm my fears until I have a follow up test. I am trying not to freak out too much. At this point, I really don't know what the results mean. It is possible that I have some other sort of autoimmune disease that is not Lupus. It is just so nerve racking not knowing what these positive lab results mean. Lupus is pretty rare, occurring in 1/1000 white women msn health. The odds are on my side.
I hope Dr. House is right. He usually is......
ONE HOUR LATER: Okay, so my doctor called my back and told me that it is probably nothing to worry about. He told me to follow up with a rheumatologist just in case. I feel better having a doctor tell me it is nothing to worry about. My eye stopped twitching right after my doctor called.
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