Too much! -- I can't make paragraphs...weird. Sorry.

I'm not a Doctor. Thank goodness, I couldn't do it. There are too many variables, too many possibilities. I'd want to be so extra careful, insurance companies would hate me. My rheumatologist has me returning to his office every other month for routine blood work and monitoring. I thought that was a good plan. But what was the plan when the test results became worse? What? Back to my family physician? Why? lol. Really? NO! The last round of tests indicate my kidney's are not functioning properly. The number one cause of fatalities in Wegener's patients. My ANCA numbers have been elevated since November (one of two causes of this is Wegener's). I don't have the textbook case of Wegener's, but my kidney's are having trouble. The rheumy didn't want to look into this! I have about half of the symptoms listed on the Vasculitis Foundatin website. Most of them semi-debilitating. But because I'm not textbook, he thinks I just need to learn to live with it all. He also thinks it's not enough to look deeper. This is my Wegener's Doctor, well..not a specialist, but typically Weggies (is what they call patients with Wegener's) are monitored by rheumys (rheumatologists). As soon as another red flag started to wave, this doctor gave me instructions to return to my family physician. "It's not related to your disease", he says. Really? How do we know? Not being a doctor, I google. When I google, "protein in urine" and "Wegener's".... well, it's not hard science but it's certainly worth looking into. Long story short, I have felt so frustrated, shed lots of tears, too many thoughts, and way too much stress over this. After writing a letter to my family doctor, he summoned me to his office yesterday. After hearing my story, he shook his head. He's sending me to a nephrologist (kidney specialist), took 7 viles of blood, ran two other tests, ordered a kidney ultra-sound, and a biopsy for next week). I HOPE THE RHEUMY IS RIGHT! But how will I know if I don't dig? Thank goodness for Dr. (bishop) Gary Smith. Thank you! We will all either sigh some relief that all is well with my sad little body, or we'll save me from kidney failure. What's the downside of taking it a little more seriously? None, in my opinion.