Rosie,
I hate waiting for lab results, too! I hope you get yours back soon.
Like you, I had to switch physicians due to insurance issues. My first GI doc who diagnosed me with UC in 2003 didn't do any labs to differentiate between UC vs Crohn's, since he was certain I had UC. With my next severe flare and right before I was hospitalized, I had a CT scan which showed mild wall thickening of the ascending and transverse colon and some infiltration of fat around the ascending colon ("fat wrapping"). First GI doc stuck to the UC diagnosis.
Fast forward two years, and my new GI doc thought the CT scan report - fat wrapping and bowel thickening, biopsies - granulomas, and pathologist report - chronicity and patchiness, looked more like Crohn's, but the subsequent ileocolonoscopy with him was normal both macroscopically and microscopically. I was also on Enbrel and methotrexate at the time and had no symptoms of IBD. He did order the labs for ANCA and ASCA, which were sent to Quest, but I don't know if those results would be different when one is in remission vs having active disease. I think the Prometheus IBD 7 consists of those two tests, plus some others.
Anyway, my results for the ANCA were negative, and the ASCA had three different ranges: negative, equivocal, and positive. My ASCA IgG came back "out of range," but in the middle range, higher than negative, but lower than positive, so ?!?! My doc dismissed it and said those labs aren't always reliable or definitive anyway.
So my puzzle is still unfinished. The arthritis/enthesitis has always been my main problem, and I know the Enbrel is working for me and I'm able to function. I only occasionally have diarrhea with bits of bloody mucus/tissue, but it doesn't cause me to lose weight or become anemic; maybe I'm being too nonchalant about that. I don't have any follow-up appointments with the GI doc, but I do see my primary for my yearly gyne exam next week, so maybe I'll ask what she thinks.
I hope you get your results soon, AND they are definitive one way or the other. Good luck!
Jan
Post Edited (jan2003) : 4/29/2008 8:22:11 AM (GMT-6)