The update

I am not saying this next paragraph to complain. I'm merely trying to paint a picture of my stress level this morning. Okay?

I woke up and got in the shower, put away some laundry, and went down stairs to put some stuff away. And I walked through a puddle of water. After seeing the splatter my first thought was that Brad spilled something and didn't have time to clean it. But that doesn't make sense because that would be SOOOOO unlike Brad. So I looked up and noticed water dripping from the ceiling. Seriously, this house just gets better and better, huh. Heavy, heavy sigh...

Then Ruth came to watch the kiddos and I went out to the the car. Lex Luther still hasn't been fixed, thanks to a slacker shop we took it too. We just went and got him last night. He isn't fixed, but he is drivable. Anyway, Brad took Odie as he had further to go and needed a trustworthy vehicle. But Odie had the GPS. I thought I knew the general way, but I'm still not very knowledgeable about Philly streets. Ruth let me borrow hers, but I managed to find my way without it. Funny thing is, I thought I was on the wrong street but ended up being on the right one. Oh, and Lex was out of gas. As in, "fuel light comes on as soon as I shift out of drive" out of gas. Sheesh.

And on this note I went to get my results. And, well, I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that my MRI came back and things look fine. No tears or damage that would require surgery. He does recommend physical therapy, but I just don't see that happening. It is so hard to keep finding sitters. I'm new here and I don't know enough people to spread the begging around. Besides, I still need to find people who can watch my kids for 3 days so I can go to a wedding in 2 weeks. Wish me luck with that one! The MRI did show some "wear and tear" (lol!), but nothing overly concerning. That is if not for my blood work results combined with the wear and tear.

Which brings us to the bad news portion of today's program. My blood work shows elevated rheumatoid factor. When I say elevated, I mean that it is supposed to be under 20. 150 is considered significant. Mine came in at 222. Bummer. I cried in my car for about 15 minutes and eventually calmed down enough to go grocery shopping. Maybe if I didn't see everything my mom has been through, I might not realize how tough RA can be. But I do know how tough it can be and it scares me. I would have preferred the surgery. The blood work also showed I have a lower than average risk of cardiac events. Yeah for that!

I did a consult with my other doctor, Dr. Brad, who isn't overly concerned. The test gives a lot of false positives or something. I don't understand all of it, but Brad doesn't think I have enough other factors to make RA a definite. I still need to do a follow up with a rheumatologist (yeah, more sitters to beg) some time soon. Maybe that will give me a better idea of what is going on exactly. At least if it is RA, we caught it pretty early. That is good!

But now, I'm going to not think about the possibilities and enjoy pizza/movie night. :o)