now and then

The summer after we got married I was a medical mess. I developed a UTI, was put on sulfa (anti-biotic) after being on it for about a week I started having flu like symptoms and then woke up with a rash all over my body (found out later it was symptoms of allergic reaction). I had to go to urgent care because the student health clinic was closed. They thought I had strep throat so put me on amoxicillin. Right after I started taking it, I developed a different rash, went back to the health clinic, and after some blood work, it turns out I had mono. My tonsils were the size of golf balls, so they put me on prednisone (steroid). I was put on too high of a dosage and I was swollen like a balloon and so itchy and uncomfortable I tried sleeping with socks over my hands to make me stop itching. I was taken off the prednisone (slowly, because you can't stop it cold turkey) and developed a horrible case of hives all over my body, that got so bad I had to go to the emergency clinic and they shot me up with a bunch of stuff to slow down the reaction. Though never proven, I was believe I was having a delayed reaction to the penicillin. Shortly after, I sliced off the top of my finger and my amazing friend even went back to the apartment to find the skin that I sliced and brought it back so the doctor could make a skin graft out of it. We promptly moved out of the dirt hole of an apartment, stopped taking all medication, and things were fine after that.


Last week, I was having some funky medical issues that have made us feel like we're living that first medical nightmare summer all over again. I woke up one morning about 2weeks ago with a bright red, swollen, pinky finger. No other symptoms, but it started to develop a rash, just on my pinky. Several days later, I watched the rash from my pinky spread up my arms, down the trunk of my body and down my legs. The next day, I started swelling really bad in my hands, legs and feet. I was ready to go to the doctor, but decided I was over-reacting a bit and they'd just want to put me on prednisone to help with the swelling which I was not about to try again. The next day (Wednesday) I was experiencing a lot of pain in my wrists and hands. It was excruciating just to try and take off my shirt. Thursday, my wrists felt a little better, but I could hardly walk because my hips hurt so bad. Marc told me I looked like a penguin. When I woke up on Friday, my hands were so swollen I could barely unclench my fingers.

 (my sausage fingers and weird redness)

( You can kind of see the rash on my swollen legs)

 Not having an established doctor, I went to Urgent Care. The doctor was quite puzzled, but ran a bunch of blood work tests. I didn't hear anything until Monday late afternoon where a nurse called and said I had some "abnormal" results and they recommended following up with my Primary Physician. Unable to tell me anything besides that, I drove over to the office, picked up the labwork, and hit up the internet and reached out to a few friends for help.
My red blood cell count is low, and I'm positive for ANA which is an auto immune test. Normal ranges are 0-9 and I have a level 23. I need to follow up with a doctor to run more tests for Auto Immune Disorders, Lupus & Rheumatoid Arthritis to be particular. So, something weird IS going on, but nothing conclusive and nothing life threatening as of this moment. I do need to get into a doctor to have a baseline of established care to monitor me. I'm not looking forward to more testing (nor the costs!!!) but I'm hoping we can at least start getting some conclusive answers.