A second opinion
I took my leg swelling problems to Dr. J, my general practitioner, yesterday. Not only is he an osteopath but he was a pharmacist before he became a DO. I have a high regard for osteopaths in general and an especially high regard for Dr. J. He’s good people and a good doctor.
I wanted to run the problems and symptoms past him before I decide whether to make an appointment at Mayo, my nephrologist’s suggestion. Dr. J has a fine way of looking at the whole person, at least in my way of thinking, and that’s what I want right now.
He ordered lab work for some specialized blood tests that help identify rheumatological diseases such as lupus or scleroderma (I think many of my symptoms fit scleroderma or nephrogenic systemic fibrosis).
It’s not that I have to put a name to this - I don’t know if it’s a disease or what - but there are some drugs associated with each that might mitigate my pain. If it is either disease, there’s no cure so finding a way to live with it is extremely important.
I’ve learned in poking around on the Net that calcium deposits are definitely something to be avoided, if at all possible. So I have redoubled my efforts to take my phosphate binders with each meal and cutting back on my already abbreviated cheese consumption. I can do without milk and ice cream, but cheese…oh, please. I’ve always been like the little girl in the Christmastime commercial who attributes her huge hall of goodies from Santa to the fact that “I didn’t leave him cookies. I left him cheese!”
