So it is time to fill in the blanks. After reading my first two entries, I realized there is 5 months of missing information. In the first entry I talked about my symptoms and how I was getting worse day by day (from November 08 - February 09). At one point I thought I was truly losing my mind from the pain. The specialist kept telling me that I was not giving the medication (methotrexate) enough time to work. He assured me that the medication takes 12 weeks to work. On February 10th, I could not even get out of bed. My muscles were so weak and the pain was unbearable. I had tried to call around to get a 2nd opinion but no one would see me. My wonderful mom took over the phone calls and we were told to call the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha as they were doing extensive research in the field of rheumatology. They had a cancellation and we could get to see a Dr. Erickson in 2 days! What a miracle!

My parents drove me to Omaha on 2/13/09 and we met with Dr. Erickson. After an extensive physical exam that left me sobbing in tears from the pain and extensive blood work and x-rays, we were sent home to wait for the results. Both my parents and I were impressed with Dr. Erickson's compassion and knowledge. The next day he called stating that the blood work was coming back very abnormal and that he was very concerned. He ordered me to go to my local clinic for more tests and that it could not wait. He also wanted me to come back to Omaha for more tests the following week including an MRI. Too make a long story short, the tests and a muscle biopsy showed that I have polymyositis.

Polymyositis (pol-e-mi-o-SI-tis) is an uncommon connective tissue disease. It's a type of inflammatory myopathy, which is characterized by muscle inflammation and weakness. The most noticeable characteristic of polymyositis is weakness of the skeletal muscles, which control movement. It most commonly affects the muscles in the trunk of the human body.

Dr Erickson started working with my original rheumatologist in the Cities and came up with a course of medication. I so wished that I could keep seeing Dr. Erickson but it was a 6 hour drive from Morgan. Within 2 weeks I started having breathing problems. Some tests were ordered which showed that the disease was attacking my lungs. It came to the point that I need oxygen for 6 weeks. After a rough couple of months, the medication started working By May, things had started to improve.

Hopefully this will connect my first 2 posts. Have a great day!