The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I requested Anna let me post the blog from our trip to Denver...there is GOOD NEWS!!! Actually there is great, good, and ugly.

The Eco showed a reduction in the pressure of her heart to 50-normal is 30 and she started her Ph life at over 100. The right side of her heart is almost normal, still slightly enlarged but good improvement. Dr. Bull is thrilled!! We are thrilled...but now confused. If she has this much improvement; why the pain? Why the fatigue? What is going on?

They ordered a chest x-ray and pulmonary functions test, they appear to be good; chest x-ray show's chronic pulmonary hypertension (of course) and the pulmonary functions were good.

The next visit (so glad we were there for 2 days:) ) was with a Rheumatologist to consult about her lupus. He was disappointed her Dr. in GJ hadn't been following her with blood work to monitor the lupus and felt she was way over medicated with a drug that can not be absorbed by the body in the dose she was prescribed and was not followed with folic acid and vitamin D (which it takes from the body).

After a lengthy consult with the department head (quite the lady) the conclusion was...fibromyalgia. Yup, now you know the good, the bad and the ugly. Fibromyalgia was a condition she had visited with her Rhuemetologist in GJ about-but he didn't feel the disease was valid disease (all in peoples heads). So...after discussion and checking drug interactions and theraputic dosage, they decided to increase the cymbalta (which was perscribed for depression, but has been found to reduce fibromyalgia pain) dosage to a theraputic level (double the current dose she was on).

They took over a dozen viles of blood to re-establish a baseline for her lupus and will call after the results are all back. We will return to see them February 1, 2010.

After we returned home this evening she received a phone call with the lab results from the TAH blood work (for her hypothyroid) and it was at nearly 29!!! High normal is 5. OMG! She meets with an internist who performed her residency at CU Med Center on monday so...I'm sure she will work on the dosage of synthroid.