Today was a long day, a very long day. It started with a phych consult with Dr. Pearson. Dr. Olson has actually tried to get me in on several visits, but it always had to be bumped for more urgent testing. She (and National Jewish as a whole) is so thorough and sincere about looking at me and treating me as a complete person. She wanted me to have the opportunity to talk with someone because of the medical roller coaster I've been dealing with for the past several years. Dr. Pearson, like all the other doctors on staff, was very easy to work with. She was friendly, caring, and funny. She had already consulted with Dr. Olson on my case and was clearly concerned about my well-being. At one point she began chuckling and said, "do you want to know what I can tell you're really good at?" Of course I did. "You're really good at taking things in stride and rolling with intense situations." I decided to take that as a compliment and rolled on to my next appointment which was with Alex Wilson, the nutritionist.
We met a long time and discussed many details about my nutrition needs according to the current lab results. I do have immune deficiency, severe iron deficiency, protein deficiency, and needs stemming from steroid side effects. I am actually a very healthy eater overall, so she was careful to explain that most of the complications are results of my illnesses and medicine side effects. I'm not sure if that made me feel better or not. : / It was a relief that she did NOT mention the word anorexia. She did say I'm still technically underweight, but was very understanding about how and why it's directly connected to my medical condition.
My last big consultation appointment of the day was a familiar one with Dr. Spahn. He reviewed my pharmacokinetics testing results from April 2010 (which was normal) and refreshed us on how steroids, t-cells, eosinophils and all work (or wreak havoc) in the body. Finally, he explained that even though in 2010 my body was absorbing and metabolizing prednisone properly, he and Dr. Olson felt like there was a possibility that with the progression of my disease that may not still hold true. They proposed redoing the pharmacokinetics testing today to see if there has been a change. Of course I agreed so he added the orders into my schedule and sent me to the lab for the first of three timed blood draws. It seemed the results of this test could shed a lot of light on why some of my meds don't seem to be as effective anymore. We'll know more in a week.
After the first blood draw, I zipped up to the third floor to meet awesome Tom and Dr. Olson for a laryngoscopy. It was quick and simple. She said my vocal cords were still closing off when I exhale, but overall the VCD did not seem as severe as it was two years ago. We finished out the day waiting for time to pass between the pharocokinetics blood draws. The bright news for the day is that I am feeling noticeably better this afternoon. My breathing is more stable than it has been and I don't feel as achy. :) It's been a good, long day.
