And the duck goes QUACK

Today was the first time I have cried in a while about Tylyn.

I realize that doctors are human and their errors are sometimes honest mistakes, even if those mistakes cost people their lives. Tylyn’s condition is not in a critical sense of life threatening as a heart attack or cancer might be, but the complete lack of compassion and acute care is disheartening.

Perhaps it is because of the road blocks her current doctors have put up. Inept at best I can not even stand to neither hear their voice nor their name.

It started with a call to Dr. Nightmare Allergist office to get Ty’s blood results. Normal. But wait- no Eosinophil count as there was no Diff. To make a long story short- why am I concerned with her count? The icing on the cake was when she relayed the doctor’s message verbatim about my referral inquiry that went along these lines:

Patient’s mother has been informed numerous times before that a referral would not be done until the patient has been reevaluated by our facility also will need to discuss with GI doctor about referral.

In addition he kindly added he was coordinating her care through Colorado with facilities and staff that he personally knew.

And might I add here- who gives a shit?

Perhaps it was teh nurse's icy tone after I said that I didn’t want to talk to Dr. Nightmare anymore. Perhaps she became annoyed about my concern of Ty’s Eosinophil levels remaining elevated for 6 months which can put strain on her heart and other organs.  

Perhaps my irritation continued with the inability to see the new GI doctor sooner. Though Ty’s stools are being questioned, it is considered a second opinion which does not allow prioritizing.

Makes you wonder how many people die waiting to get a second opinion.

Lastly, when I found out the real culprit for ordering the CBC without the diff, (although the hospital lab staff assured us the req did mean differential), would be the PCP, they regretfully informed me most likely the insurance wouldn’t cover a retest. This was due to her having two normal blood results back to back.

Remember the first one they didn’t do right either.

Morons would be a strong understatement for Dr. Nightmare, Dr. G and her PCP.

Sadness does not cover my emotion. If I had to describe it perfectly it would be a mixture of: despair, hopelessness and fatigue.

I look forward to closing my business and letting Daniel take over. How can anyone have the strength to interact with anyone after dealing with this on a weekly and sometimes daily basis?

I’m trying to stay positive but in the midst of the roof leaking because of the ex-husband, the crappy contractors that won’t show up or return a call (and when they do they tell me September) and my flipping car needing service constantly, I have little patience for doing teh grunt work of my daughter's health care.

It seems this is common though. A client yesterday told Dan her daughter was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia but that was only after fighting with doctors for four years while they had her do physical therapy. Her daughter was still angry about the doctor's ignorance. She is the same age as Tylyn.

I am currently taking a class for a new medical degree and am sickened by the description of the healthcare reform that promises a better system for the patient. One that allows easier referrals and electronic healthcare records that can be accessed instantly.

Our current healthcare system is fill with doctors such as these that are overworked, understaffed who have atrocious amounts of student loans and insurance costs and no time to provide adequate care that is outside what we can all find on google. What does this result in? Demanding to see a patient so they can write a referral. Perhaps it is their egotistical, self centeredness that makes the ability to see past their own opinion unattainable.

I’m not sure if he wants me to pay some more money one more time. My daughter has been to his office twice since he promised her a miracle cure. I’ve asked since June 1^st for a referral. I’m beginning to grow leery of NJH & CH if Dr. Nightmare represents the doctor’s there.

I think I need to do more research before a let another “duck” set back my daughter’s progess. But then again, currently we have no where to go but up.

Reality: The Non-Fiction Side of Eosinophilic Esophagitis

Today is Friday. Thank goodness my daily job as a Method Transfer Analyst at a pharmaceutical company is over for two days while I shoot a wedding and edit pictures.

As much as I love photography, I have pulled back a bit. I’ve cancelled all my promo work. I told Dan last night I couldn’t talk about shooting a wedding on November 5^th because it is two hours away and I won’t return home from Denver until the 3^rd. I’m not putting my life on hold because of Eosinophilic Esophagitis or Gastroenteritis. I’m reprioritizing.

Okay, whom am I kidding?

The fact is no different than when we had 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina- I am addicted in formation. My current read? Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Clinics of North America edited by Dr. Glenn Furuta, Tylyn’s soon to be doctor in Colorado. I even dreamed last night I was shooting a wedding and was describing to the guests about the disease and he was there listening. Dr. Furuta stood up and explained it had all been a misunderstanding and he would make Tylyn better. I woke up feeling sad that it wasn’t true. It was here. Forever.

I’ve been contemplating going back to school in the spring after my company closes. Something I had considered before for retraining, but set aside because my passion is definitely photography. I now think about the possibilities. The research I could do, the things I could discover, the help I could lend.

Then I realize I’m obsessing a bit like the man in Love and Other Drugs movie. Am I trying to make Tylyn better to make myself feel better? Do I want a simply uncomplicated life again? I don’t know the answers to these questions.

My sister, the counselor, says this is normal. Tylyn is supposed to be heading more towards independence. Instead I’m constantly researching the disease. I have to be the translator for the doctors to my daughter and my family. I have to be the educator for people who look at you and say, “What is it again? In English please. “

Take yesterday for instance Tylyn called after her barium swallow study. It went well except the doctor was concerned because her stomach was slow to empty during the study. Normal is five minutes to begin; hers did nothing for 13 minutes and then had five minutes of doing nothing.

My immediate question was, “So did it start emptying at 5 minutes? “

“No, it waited until 13 minutes.”

“And then it waited five minutes?”

“I don’t know, “ was Tylyn’s response.

How am I supposed to decipher what that means? How am I supposed to provide comfort? I have requested the 6^th of July off so I can go speak with the GI. Anything else gets muddled and is not relayed correctly.

In addition I have a file for Tylyn; test results, daily sheets and more. I didn’t think I was going have to be a mom, photographer, chemist and medical secretary. Add more to the plate.

On a lighter note the book is a great read. Sure it’s full of all kinds of medical terminology but I’m geeky and love that kind of thing. Some interesting data that can not be ignored is presented in the very first article.

‘Kelly and colleagues in 1995 investigated 75 pediatric patients who had longstanding reflux who were unresponsive to medical therapy. They found 23 patients had persistent esophageal eosinophiliac despite medical treatment of reflux. They hypothesized that there may be an allergic component to this entity and placed patients on an elemental diet for a period of 6 weeks. Of the 17 that began the trial, 12 completed the trial and 10 underwent repeat endoscopy. If the patients had improvement in their symptoms, a repeat endoscopy with biopsy then was performed following food challenges. On completion of the elemental diet, 80% patients became free of long term complaints and all others reported substantial improvement in their symptoms. The median time for improvement of symptoms was 3 weeks. Seventy percent of patients had asthma or eczema. On repeat endoscopy, 60% showed complete resolution of endoscopic findings. There was a significant reduction of esophageal eosinophiliac in all patients and complete resolution in 50%. The mean Eosinophils per HPF before and after therapy were 41 and 0.5 respectively. The investigators showed a decrease in basal zone hyperplasia and papillary height in biopsy specimens. During a controlled reintroduction of foods, symptoms were recreated in 9 of 10 patients a median of 1 hour after the reintroduction of the offending food. The most common agents were cow milk, soy protein, wheat, peanut and egg. With this evidence, Kelly and colleagues suggested an association between EE and an allergic predisposition. ‘[1]

I find this data a bit staggering and would like to read more about additional studies. The scientist in my head wants to read more about the data, the trends and patterns. I want more information about the antigens, the alleles and genetic markers. I guess that is for another day.

On lunch today I also read: 70% of children with Eosinophilic Esophagitis are males. Once again, lots of conflicting evidence to what is found on the internet. I guess I need to read more. Off I go.  

[1] Kelly K, Lazenby A, Rowe P, et a Eosinophilic esophagitis attributed to gastroesophageal reflux: improvement with amino-acid based formula. Gastroenterology 1995; 109 1503-1512.

The Testing Continues

April 2011

Tylyn’s abdominal sonogram revealed no anomalies. The HIDA scan also was negative for gallbladder problems, leaving us clueless and Tylyn still suffering. Mid April we moved forward with the Endoscopy and the GI doctor in Rochester was now convinced that Tylyn had something going on.

Her blood work showed Eosinophilia (an increased number of Eosinophils in her peripheral blood). In fact her counts went from 9% to 11% to 14% to 20%.

He wanted to biopsy her esophagus, stomach and upper small intestine. Dan had planned on going to California so I accompanied Tylyn to the doctor’s for her procedure. Despite everything she had gone through she was amazingly positive and of course I snapped a few pictures to document the experience, including a picture that was in her chart showing the furrows in her Esophagus. The GI doctor gave us a preliminary diagnosis if EE.

It would be a couple of weeks before received the diagnosis. Eosinophiliac Esophagitis. Despite being ready for this, it took me over. I had been combing the internet for the past week trying to find information and had come up short but everything that I had researched prior to this point now started to fall into place.

Tylyn would now need to have a Colonoscopy done to look at the lower part of her small intestine and colon. The GI doctor was hoping to rule out Chrons and Celiac disease as well.

May 2011

I took the call from the GI doctor while I was at work. He informed me even though Tylyn’s colonoscopy had been textbook; the biopsies reveal her small intestine was ‘infiltrated’ with Eosinophils. I would receive a paper later on confirming the second diagnosis- Eosinophiliac Gastroenteritis. This would be shortly before what I would later on discover to be Eosinophiliac Awareness week.

She would be started on a course of Steroids for the Eosinophiliac Gastenteritis. I was not pleased with the GI’s decision to place her on Entrocourt (Budesonide Oral). I reluctantly agreed after hearing that they were hoping the steroid would knock her Eosinophil levels back to normal providing relief. He expressed that many patients respond to this treatment and in ideal circumstances she wouldn’t have to remain on it long. In addition he reassured me this particular steroid had minimal side effects because it was metabolized quickly. I was partially relieved that the Eosinophiliac Gastroenteritis would be brought under control, helping alleviate the discomfort of her chronic diarrhea.

I went to the pharmacy later that day to pick up the script. Due to wide limits of income, Tylyn still receives Child Health Plus. Price with insurance for a 30 day supply (90 pills) $0. Price if she didn’t have insurance- $1140. When I relayed that information to my family when I returned home she sullenly looked up from the movie she was watching and stated that she might need to change her career choice to guarantee she would always have insurance. This is a depressing thought for anyone, let alone a seventeen year old choosing a profession. This was not a name brand drug, merely a generic.

Working first hand at a pharmaceutical company I know the millions of dollars that it costs to develop a drug, bring it through clinical trials and the market. I am familiar with the steps of drug development. IND (Investigative New Drug), Phase I, II, III & IV Testing and NDA (New Drug Application).

In addition I have worked with the top of the line instruments; HPLC’s (high performance liquid chromatography), GC (gas chromatography), analytical balances, MS (mass spectrophotometers), and FTIR (Fourier transform Infared Spectroscopy) to name a few. I know the costs of columns, reagents and standards. My experience encompasses all these areas but I am completely disgusted over the FDA and federal regulations regarding these patents and release of these products. I can say with certainty the analysts and research scientists are not over compensated and place most of the blame on the pharmaceutical companies who are netting millions of dollars on product.

Alas I have gone off on a tangent. Time to refocus.

She was on the Entrocourt for only a week when she saw a marked increase in her symptoms. Diarrhea and abdominal pain increased significantly along with a new side effect: headaches. The latter was confirmed with the pharmacist as the most common side effect. I made a call to the doctor’s office the morning of my Grandmother’s funeral. The GI doctor was sympathetic in our loss but accounted for Tylyn’s change in symptoms to the latest upset in our family. Annoyed I expressed that it was not related to the funeral at all and proceeded to hang up and tell Tylyn she needed to take it in order to feel better.

The following week we visited a new allergist that the GI doctor wanted us to change to. Off Dan and Tylyn went. The time spent there explained that the Entrocourt could increase the diarrhea and abdominal pain she was having and the dose she was on was a lot but not enough to make a difference. He proposed putting her on Prednisone. His theory was that she was trying to put out a fire with a squirt gun and not a fire extinguisher. She needed to get rid of it once and for all and finally feel better.

Tylyn liked him because he was cute, not enough to win me over at this point. When she texted me the information he had told her I called the doctor. He posed his argument and I rebuttaled with hard data about steroid use, particularly Prednisone. He explained his point once again and said he thought it was a good thing Tylyn would be feeling better in 24-48 hours after starting the Predisone. A small time, he noted after suffering for years and possibly having both the Eosinophiliac Esophagitis and Gastroenteritis since birth. I said I wouldn’t tolerate long term use of two steroids. He agreed and said the Prednisone was only a short term use, two weeks, with a high dose at the beginning for seven days and a gradual wean.

Against my better judgment I agreed, though not before informing him that if she did not have an improvement she would be going and seeing the clinic in Cincinnati or Denver. He downplayed my threat but reassured me he knew Dr. Furuta and this was the best care she could receive in this area and ‘this wasn’t his first rodeo’. I will leave out my own colorful words here. He also decreased the Entrocourt at this point to one a pill per day instead of three.

Day 1- No change. Diarrhea, headaches, nausea, stomach pains.

Day 2- No change. Diarrhea, headaches, nausea, stomach pains.

Day 3- No change. Diarrhea, headaches, nausea, stomach pains.

Day 4- No change. Diarrhea, headaches, nausea, stomach pains.

Day 5- No change. Diarrhea, headaches, nausea, stomach pains, joint pain.

Day 6- No change. Diarrhea, headaches, nausea, stomach pains, joint pain.

At this point Tylyn and I headed Florida. I had booked a trip for just her and I back in April to get away from doctors, tests and the drama that seemed to follow us from week to week. So much for 2011 being better. I was dealing with a girl who was upset she left her prescription anti-diarrhea medication at home even though it provided little relief.

Spending time with Tylyn in Florida made me realize how much Ty used the bathroom. We had flown in on Friday and visited Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, The Everglades, The Keyes and were going to leave on Monday, Memorial Day. Sunday night as we laid in separate beds getting ready to fall asleep I listened as she complained about stomach pains and how bad she felt. Exhausted she concluded it was because she was now weaning off the steroids and therefore body wasn’t receiving as much of a dose.

Tylyn fell asleep while I laid awake thinking of the 1000mg of Tylenol she had donned to get her daily headache to go away. She wasn’t happy and I couldn’t fix it. I felt like a failure as parent and as we flew home on Monday and Tylyn visited the restroom during our three hour flight I realized I thought once we had a diagnosis it would change everything; the way she felt, how she was treated for the Eosinophiliac Esophagitis and Gastroenteritis and hopefully a change in lifestyle for her.

I was wrong.

June 2011

When we returned home I called the allergist and relayed that Tylyn was not feeling better but now was having a lot of joint pain. The message was relayed to the doctor who relayed back. ‘Why is she still on the prednisone?’ With irritation I replied, “Because she is only at day 10 and she is weaning off until day 14?” The nurse revealed that the doctor was booked for two weeks. If Tylyn was having problems, they suggested she could go to her PCP.

Infuriated I called the GI doctor. He patiently told me his thoughts of the course of action I should take. Wean her of the Prednisone and the Entrocourt as there was no change. I mentioned Denver and Dr. Furuta again. I also threatened to seek out a second opinion with Dr. Scagnelli that was still practicing. In fact I had already booked an appointment with him.

I was tired, exhausted and drained at being my daughter’s supporter, advocate and seemingly the only person who could look at the data objectively.

The GI surprised me and supported my decision to seek another opinion. He told me that because Eosinophiliac Esophagitis and Gastroenteritis was so rare, if this was his child he would take them to the Eosinophiliac Clinic in Cincinnati or Denver. He did not discourage me from seeing Dr. Scagnelli who had also treated this disease, he just suggested going to the best place due to its rarity. He also empathized with my frustration of empty promises by the allergist with no resolution.

I called Dan and discussed. After agreement I called both facilities. Cinncinati’s recording stated they worked on a volunteer basis and would return our call when they could. To date I have not heard from them, it has been three weeks.

Children’s Hospital (CH) in Denver called back that day. I talked in length to Kim, someone from the program. She was patient and understanding. She offered to pass my information onto the program coordinator, Joann.

Needless to say they have been true to their words. Kept deadlines, offer information and discuss their program. It took less than one week for Tylyn to be accepted, which included having all her records transferred from the five different doctors that had treated her over a three month period. 

Prior to her visit yesterday with the allergist yesterday she had been doing better since off the steroids. No joint pains, headaches are gone, weight gain subsided. The only problem abdominal pain is continues,as the diarrhea and fatigue.

But we made it miraculously through prom despite a rocky day prior. Good thing the boys baseball team won sectionals and they moved it. :) Now if we can only stay stable until our visit in Denver on October 27^th.

Above: Tylyn at Prom

Up Next: About the facility

Things Get Ugly

I had hit the snooze button this morning and had just cuddled back against my boyfriend to steal a few extra moments of sleep before heading to work when I realized yesterday I should have requested a requisition (req) for a Chemistry panel.

I had asked for a CBC slip from her PCP to check her Eosinophil levels because she has been so sick. She is off the steroids for a little over a week now and I wanted to know if they had climbed back up. I was instantly awake as I had made a mistake of not requesting a Chemistry panel as well. I wanted this mostly because of my interest in her potassium (k+) levels.

To say the least Tylyn’s conditions have made me a bit paranoid.

Symptoms of low potassium are:

Weakness or Muscle Cramping

Tiredness

Tingling or Numbness

Abdominal Cramping

Constipation

Palpitations

Passing large amounts of urine or feeling thirsty all the time

Fainting due to low blood pressure.

Delirium, confusion or hallucinations

Granted Tylyn doesn’t exhibit any of the symptoms other than the Abdominal Cramping & Tiredness but then again they were the only symptoms she exhibited the night she was in the ER. But I guess I’m getting ahead of myself now, perhaps I should start where our nightmare REALLY began.

March 2011

I love March. It’s the end of winter and of course Tylyn’s birthday. I was really looking forward to her birthday even though last year was the iconic sweet sixteen. My ex husband and I had separated on that day, so it wasn’t held to the highest esteem within our family. In addition she was almost recovered from the bad sprain during basketball season that landed her in the ER.

Above: Tylyn in the ER at MMH after spraining her ankle at a BB game

This year however we had managed to wade through several bouts with the flu and purchased her prom dress. My family came up two day’s prior to her birthday on Saturday, March 5^th. As we ate, laughed and played a fun board game, attention shifted to Tylyn’s prom gown. Due to my family being out of town we all piled in my parents van and went to the shop so she could showcase her dress.

After a brief stop there we hit a couple of stores and Tylyn expressed not feeling well. She stated she had to use the restroom with her usual post eating ritual. When my mother delayed being in a store Tylyn vomited in the car. We returned home, her going upstairs and leaving me to clean up the vehicle with my dad before my family having to return home in it. 

She was sick the rest of the night. Pale and violent intervals of vomiting and diarrhea. Sunday she was still ill, no appetite but the sickness had subsided. Diarrhea was unchanged. I restocked our supply of Gatorade which was normally reserved for her sporting events.

-Monday she tried to eat something but again became violently ill. She stuck with Gatorade.

-Tuesday Tylyn watched TV and ate nothing, only trying to keep Gatorade down.

-Wednesday she felt great, stayed home and ate little, keeping goldfish and Gatorade down.

-Thursday she went to school and ate a little, feeling the best she had in days.We went out for dinner that night and she picked at a  couple of fries with gravy, some cottage cheese and sherbet. She was happy, REAL food.

Above: The day she ended up in the ER

After we came home I was raking the front yard and she came out on the porch telling me she had thrown up her dinner. She proceeded to tell me she was going to bed. It was 6pm. Not uncommon for the last few days.

Some time later I was in my office and I received a call from her. She complained of stomach pains and needed me to come upstairs. A quick assessment of her made my heart go in my throat. I went down and let Dan know that I needed to take her to the ER. I was thoroughly convinced she was having a gall bladder attack. In her words she was having stabbing pain under her rib in her upper right quadrant. Off to the hospital we went with her fading in and out of consciousness. I took her to our rural hospital due to the severity of her sickness as opposed to taking her to Strong or Children’s in either Rochester or Buffalo.

At MMH the night quickly became agitated as I tried to sign her in and Tylyn proceeded to throw up in the garbage can. It was flu season and evidently I was an annoying over paranoid mother. The nurse became more agitated when Tylyn wouldn’t respond to her questions, her eyes rolling back in her head. As a photographer and someone that had worked in the medical field, I snapped some pictures just in case she took a turn for the worse and nobody did anything. Later that night I told the nurse her fingers were blue and as they walked away they said over their shoulder “Perhaps she’s cold.” 

Above: Ty sick in the ER

Above: Tylyn's Blue thumb and nail beds

 It was three hours before we were seen. Five before we had blood results. Her potassium had bottomed out. They needed to give her IV fluids of 30MEq. Dan stayed with her while I ran home to get some sleep sometime after 1pm. I had to work the next day and was quite irritated when I found out they released her without her follow up labs.

After some hassle on Friday I managed to get my hands on her lab work. Everything was all over the place. She had bilirubin in her urine (not acceptable in any quantity) and had some immature WBC’s. They were only slightly higher but was a bit alarming as there were promyleocytes, metamyleocytes and myleocytes coming right out the bone marrow.

I know that sounds like a foreign language to most people but luckily for me my degree was in Medical Laboratory Technology. The three types of myleocytes in her blood are normally found in the bone marrow and mature there prior to being released in the blood. An increased count warrants a retest or at least a notation.

Results in hand I confronted her PCP who brushed me off. He said the more you had the better. I looked at him incredulously wondering if I should have continued my education to even begin to receive adequate treatment for myself or my family. He said that this is the first time he had heard of Tylyn’s diarrhea problem even though it was her regular doctor’s office.

The next morning the PCP’s office called and said the doctor had reviewed Ty’s charts and we needed to come in that morning, free of charge of course.

That visit revealed that he wanted to test Tylyn for Chrons and gallbladder disease. I had a bit of satisfaction at the look of concern on the doctor’s face when Tylyn revealed she hadn’t had a normal stool in over a year. It seemed someone finally took our “complaining” serious. We rejoiced even though he suggested seeing the GI whom we had already set an appointment with on Tuesday. The PCP said if the GI didn’t order the Barium enema, Sonogram or HIDA he would. Relief flooded us. An inch of progress and surely the knowledgeable GI doctor out of a prominent Gastro group in Rochester would agree that this was gallbladder issues. She had all the symptoms of GB disease and only one of Chrons which would be diarrhea.

Tuesday finally arrived, only to be a disappointment. The doctor ignored the lab work I brought with me, discounting any data that it presented. He interviewed Tylyn about sexual or mental abuse, suggested a sonogram and an endoscopy but refused to rule out Chrons or do a HIDA.

What was his focus in our 15 minute consultation? Whether Tylyn was emotionally distraught over a recent break up with a boyfriend or did she know what irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) was? He handed us information about the south beach diet and suggested an allergist. Through gritted teeth I informed him that she already had an appointment on Friday for an allergist and that she couldn’t have IBS if she didn’t eat anything. She had lost 13 pounds in 10 days at this point. Prescription anti-diarrhea medication did not even touch her condition.

He had nothing to say to her response that she had 4-5 BM on a good day, 15-20 on a bad day.Nor did he comment about if it was IBS or Chrons she should receive relief when she wasn't eating.

We left the doctor’s office a bit stressed and went to get something to eat. Ty ate off the south beach diet menu. We headed back home and Ty vomited up her entire breakfast. Like a trooper she wanted to get her blood work done that was being repeated to check her K+ levels. I scheduled the Barium enema for the next day due to her being mostly cleaned out from the constant diarrhea.

Wednesday the 16^th she underwent that procedure and missed another day of school. The results would later reveal no Chrons.

She attended school on that Thursday, the first day in week. Barely enough to keep up with two college level classes and three AP classes. Her course load was heavy- PreCalc, Spanish IV, AP English, AP Bio & AP US History. Her grades would suffer more before this was all over.

Friday revealed a slight skin allergy positive result to Milk. The allergist ordered an IgE serum test for milk and Anti- Islet Antibody test along with another antibody blood test. We planned on doing these on Saturday but it was moved to Monday after the PCP called us to tell us Tylyn had abnormal blood results. They needed to repeat testing. Her Eosinophils were 9% with the immature WBC’s still present.

Monday we had all her blood work done. The results were accidentally sent to the allergist which in turn delayed the PCP to revealing them to us. When they finally did we were referred to an Hematologist/Oncologist. The PCP who dismissed my concerns the first day after her being in the ER had no problem telling me over the phone they wanted to rule out Leukemia. I did not tell Tylyn but rather coordinated questions through my sister who works as a Counselor in an end of life clinic for cancer patients.

A little relief came from my sister’s boss and coworkers; doctors in the profession who felt that it wasn’t leukemia but rather a secondary reaction to something else that was going on in her body.

The Hematologist/Oncologist ordered repeat testing along with a RA Factor (for rheumatoid arthritis), ANA (anti nuclear antibody for Lupus and other autoimmune diseases) and another Celiac test.

Blood work was finally normal other than the ANA coming back slightly positive. To date no one has paid attention to this result.

Also tested this month:

Stool Samples- for Ovum & Parasites, C-Diff and Campylbacter

Multiple Blood Tests

Up Next: The Testing Continues