Do I have RA?

This was only his PA, Dr. Waller is better...they will wait til you get your labs results
and mri done...I was a bit disappointed when I saw his PA, but then once I had my labs
and mri done and saw the doctor things went better....he will listen to you, stay on it...

For me nothing showed up on the bloodwork, but the hand mri picked up the damage.
So for now what they told you is probably a temp dx till your labs and mri come back.
Give this doctor a chance...when you do see him he spends a lot of time with you,
My first visit with him was over an hour and 1/2...after the wait to see him.

momto3, bumpercar will get better treatment from the doctor, she only just saw his PA and he
is through with getting the labs and mri's, before making a true dx, sometimes they have to be
hard on the first visit to weed out the drug seekers...the next visit with the doctor will be better...

Chartreux...I disagree..you simply do not tell any patient they need to seek mental health treatment, implying that is the cause of their pain, that is in poor taste. A PA is *supposed* to take the place of the doctor, and is *supposed* to provide optimum care in place of the doctor..this did not happen for bumper.  The visit was outrageous at best.  Bumper left the office feeling poorly and discouraged, this means the PA did not do his/her job. I am sorry to hear that the *best* PA is on leave...they should *all* be best PA's!! not just one!!

So sorry I have not posted in awhile.

I truly appreciate everyone's support.

Right now I am sort of on hold about my health. The Gabapentin seems to be working most the time, with the exception of occasional flare ups of severe pain. I continue to get strange sores on my body that look to me like yeast and staph. I also have an oval of dark pinkish/brown skin patch with darker pink slightly raised skin on the outside of the oval. I now have 3 nodules in my right hand, two in the palm of my hand at the last joint of my middle and index finger. The internist now says they are not RA nodules as he says the location is not the typical location. There is never anything typical about my health problems. Next time I go to the internist I will ask him the lesions. My knees are getting worse and I have to hold on to things to get up from squatted positions.

It I lived in Salem, Massachusetts during the days of the Salem Witch Trials I would surely be burned at the stake.

I would like to continue to pursue my health issues to get to the bottom of all this, but money stands in the way.

On a side note, one of my adult nephews has been diagnosed with Angiosarcoma of the Liver, a very rare, very fast growing and very deadly cancer. I contacted my late husbands oncologist who is world renowned in research and treating sarcomas. I managed to get my nephew worked in to be seen very quickly, but my nephew refused to follow up with the nurse in preparation to his first appointment, so the appointment was canceled. Although I am estranged from my extended family everyone including the nephew were happy with this appointment.

Sadly I am out of the loop with my extended family and once again they have chosen to be very secretive with me. I pray my nephew gets the medical care he needs and beats this horrible disease.

Off to move water hoses. They drought is beyond belief.

Thanks for listening and posting.