Living with Rheumatoid Athritis

  I received a massive communication from the rheumatologist on Sunday - 11 pages long and with details of all the tests. One surprise - I have a compression fracture of the T4 vertebra in my back with milder changes at T1. Apparently this may be due to osteoporosis but I may be hearing from more specialists about this.  Rheumatoid Arthritis has been confirmed and there is also a small amount of scarring on my lungs which accounts for the breathlessness, although it doesn't seem quite so bad at the moment.  I also may have a problem with "intrapulmonary lymph nodes" whatever they are! I have also got full reports on the bloodwork that was done although I really don't understand a word of them. Still it is good to have a body MOT once in a while. As a result I am now started on Methotrexate which is taken once a week and Folic Acid which is taken three days later (I almost forgot to take this on Sunday). The Methotrexate may take some time to work so I am still on a d...

Sorry but this update is a little later than I  said - some weeks are just busier than others I guess and I'm afraid that I never quite got round to it. I emailed the rheumatologist on Sunday night about the CT scan and then promptly had a horrible flare up on Monday which kept me off work and in bed. Luckily I was at home when the Dr phoned. He reassured me that the scan was just because some things were not clear on the X-ray and that the scan would give a better picture. He also put me back on oral steroids for a while, although I still have some pain in my neck and wrists even after taking them for a few days. I was really impressed that the email resulted in a phone call barely 12 hours later. Well done NHS Scotland. All the people that tried to reassure me that the reason for the scan was an unclear X-ray - you were correct. Thanks for trying to put my mind at rest! The Tuesday was the Respiratory Clinic and, to be honest, there was just a lot of breathing in and out - a...

I know that I've been unusually quiet recently but there has really been very little to report until now! Last week I received another unexpected letter - this time from the Radiology Department of the hospital inviting me for an appointment for a CT scan on Saturday at 14.10. What really worried me was that there was no explanation as to WHY I was actually there. I'm afraid that I really started to worry about what exactly was wrong with me. Anyway I was taken about 10 mins early and, of course, asked what the scan was for. The person who was doing the scan, as I suspected, had no idea. The scan was simple enough and I was finished just before my actual appointment was due to start. I asked how long the results would be and was told that It would probably be around two weeks. Please note that what I am about to say should not be construed as a criticism of the NHS but the lack of communication with me has really got me worried. Did I get the scan as a result of something that ...