Dear Gang, I don't know whether God and I moved that mountain or not today.1) He (rheumy) had not received the results of the cpk and other blood tests that he requested me to get 3 weeks ago. I thought they had to have that information in order to make recommendations. (I don't know whether he called and checked with my primary care doctor while I was there. The nurse came in and took 6 vials of blood today for lots of different tests.
2) His recommendations were: 1) Physical Therapy starting next week, 2) Finish 60 tablets of Predisone 2x a day; then next prescription is 120 tablets X 5 refills of 10mg predisone 2x a day. (reducing the dosage by 1/2 - 20mg to 10mg); (IS THIS TOO FAST???)3) Call him in 2 weeks - he might want to start another drug imuran or methotrezate.4) Didn't think acupuncture would be a good idea - needles in the muscles 5) No reason why I shouldn't continue to teach; 6)Quit smoking (Difficult to do - I think I use cigarettes to manage stress and pain.) Been having a little stress and pain lately. lol
I'm still experiencing difficulty in walking especially my right ankle after my exhuberance "marathon bliss of overdoing over the weekend." I think that maybe the soreness was caused by pushing the accelerator on the trip to see my daughter in Athens. The doctor also said something about a "dropped foot". Do you know what this means? I think he was referring to that same ankle that is so sore and weak. Before the trip, I was doing great at least I thought I was. My right ankle is pretty weak and I'm not super confidant that it is going to keep me steady. Not walking really well at all - I've got school tomorrow. I was hoping that three days of rest in the afternoon - and I would come back.
What do you think about his recommendations? DeAnna