I am starting this blog because I have been dealing with this health issue for more than 2 years. I have often thought of writing a blog to track my journey but didn't know how or where to start. I have recently hit a new place in my diagnosis that got me to thinking about a blog again.
It all started a year and a half ago when I went for an annual checkup. I mentioned that I was tired so the doctor ran a few extra blood tests. One of them came back really high. My "Sed rate," which indicates inflamation in the body, was at 92. The normal range is 0-20. A level of 100 = serious disease according to the medical books.
But the sed rate doesn't tell you where the infamation comes from or what is causing it.
I was referred to a Cardiologist and went through months of testing. My heart is ok.
I was referred to a Rheumatologist for more tests. All seemed to check out ok; my joints were fine, I didn't have arthritis. But he wanted to run one more set of blood tests just to make sure a certain protein wasn't high. If that set of tests came out ok, he would proclaim my sed rate naturally high and would recommend I continue to monitor it, but I would otherwise get a clean bill of health.
When the results of the tests came back and the doctor called me, my world changed. There was a high level of IgG protein in my blood. He was referring me to an Oncology Hematologist.
My ears started ringing and I went into a sort of tunnel vision. Oncologist? A blood oncologist?
Yet the doctor was quick to tell me that this did not mean I had cancer. It was just so I could see what was going on.
But an oncologist? I was going to an oncologist? I think I went into shock.
I immediately searched the internet for clues as to what was happening inside of me. What I found was not good. The average age of someone who gets this is 68! And life expectancy is 3 YEARS! Three years? Three years!!
I hadn't expected to die before I was 45.
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