And the diagnosis/treatment plan is...

Medication, Rest, Time and Prayers!

WOW...what a week! I finally got my results back on Weds and then spent Thursday and Friday figuring out the best possible treatment. My blood work came back and these are the results:

Sjogren's Anti-bodies= extremely elevated
SED Rate (inflammation)= elevated
Potassium Levels= low

One can look at the above and quickly determine that I am in a flare-up. This is good news b/c that means it's not anything more serious/life threatening. It is a very bad flare-up however, so the time off from work is much needed. SO...basically we spent Thursday and yesterday talking about medication/treatment options and avoiding chemo at all costs. I am going to stay on the steroids (to help the anti-bodies and sed rate levels) and my doc has added another medication for nerve pain. And as far as Potassium...well, there's no reason it should be low (I'm not on any diuretics, kidneys are fine, I certainly do not have an eating disorder), so it must be attributed to all that's going on...but treatment...that's a no brainer for me. I'll just increase my Potassium intake in my diet!

Thanks to all of you again for your thoughts/prayers/emails/phone calls! Even if I can't get back to you right away, I so much appreciate hearing from you! Take care and I'll be sure to keep you updated. I'm just so glad that this is just a Sjogren's thing. It's somewhat familiar territory, so rest, medication, and time should help immensely!

I have posted a song that just so expresses how I feel right now! I encourage you to take a few minutes to listen to it. ;) You'll want to pause my blog music on the right side of my site, first before playing the song below, so you don't have two songs playing at once. :)


May you find yourslef singing for all to hear!!
Love,
Amanda