Vicki

I have been crying off and on since yesterday because I have no idea what to think, or how to feel. I have never had a lot of faith in doctors because let's face it, they are just imperfect human beings, and they don't know everything. Still, I'd like to be able to get some straight answers for once.

I have had a very high white blood cell count since early 2007, over 2 years now. It fluctuates between 13,000-16,000. A normal white blood cell count should be 4,300 to 10,800 cells per cubic millimeter.

My General Practitioner sent me to a Hematologist back in 2007, and he did blood tests, but said it wasn't a blood disorder because I was positive for the Rheumatoid Factor. So, my GP sends me to a Rheumatologist. It took me 6 months to even get an appointment to see this woman, and I never liked her from the beginning. It was just her attitude, and I felt like cattle being pushed through more than I felt like a patient. She immediately puts me on steroids and a drug called Plaquenil. Despite the fact that I have an ulcer, and I told her Prednisone makes me sick.

Well, my husband gets laid off last year, and we lose our health insurance. When my husband gets a new job, we have to wait 90 days to get the new health insurance. It was then that I told my GP that I didn't like the RA doctor, and I wanted to go to a different one. She had no problem with that. I call the new RA doctor, and it takes me 4 months to get an appointment this time. (saw him for the first time in March of this year) He takes tons of x-rays and blood tests.

My return appointment with the new RA doctor was yesterday. He said that I do not have Rheumatoid Arthritis, that I have really bad Osteoarthritis, especially in my spine and hands, nothing I can really do except to manage the pain. i.e.-by taking RX pain pills and RX Lidocaine patches, also limiting some of the things I do.

I'm in dismay because the old RA doctor was pumping me full of poison drugs for a disease I supposedly do not even have. He also said that I can test positive for the Rheumatoid Factor, and not have RA. That confused me, but ok. He said he was concerned that my white blood cell count was so high (14,500), and he was going to recommend I see a Hematologist for a bone marrow test.

So, I call the Hematologist this morning to tell them what's going on, and they are getting the records from the Rheumatologist today. So, it has come full circle. I am back to seeing the Hematologist I saw back in late 2007, as soon as I get another appointment. Hopefully I do not have to wait long because I am not a new patient.

I really want some answers, but the idea of getting a bone marrow test scares me to death. I hate needles, and I know this particular test is not pleasant, to say the least. I talked to my GP yesterday, and she is not happy, but also has no idea what's wrong with me. I don't blame her, I love her. She's a wonderful and caring doctor.

I don't know how to feel. I guess I feel numb.

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Those that forget the past are condemned to re-live it.
"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures
from the shelter of compassion and pity,
you have men who will deal likewise with their fellow man."
~ St. Francis of Assisi ~