17 May 2011

Update on My Mom

My mom went to see her rheumatologist today to follow-up on her hospital visit.

Not to brag or anything, but her rheumatologist was flabbergasted that the doctor in hospital didn't do the biopsy, as I had been pushing for.  "Wait - what?  They DIDN'T do the biopsy?  Why not???  We better get that scheduled right away!"  So she's going to see a surgeon tomorrow for a consultation and to schedule the biopsy on her ophthalmic blood vessel... JUST LIKE I WANTED THEM TO DO ALL ALONG!

This biopsy will tell us definitely whether she has the arteritis or the second option, polymyalgia rheumatica.  The treatment for both is basically the same, but still - we want to know for sure what we're dealing with.


Now, here's the funny part.  When Mom was in hospital, I had asked her if she was having joint pain.  And I SPECIFICALLY said, "Are you having joint pain?  Like, pain in your knees?  Or pain in your shoulders when you go to put your coat on?"  (In the interest of full disclosure, I know nothing about rheumatica.  My friend Peter, who is a doctor I worked with at Temple zeroed in on this the night I called him when Mom went to the ER.)  And she said no.  That type of pain is a symptom of the rheumatica, but not of the temporal arteritis.  Okay, fine.  So, today, when her doctor brought up the rheumatica again, I said, "Oh, yeah!  That was why I was asking you about the joint pain!"  She said, "Well, I have been having some pain in my elbows and shoulders."


"Uh, Mom...?  THOSE are joints."

"Well, I was thinking more about the muscles when you asked."



"Uh-huh..."

1 comment:

  1. Did she get lost on pit road when looking for Jr's pit, and just give up and decide to become a Joey fan cause she ended up there??

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