I FINALLY HAVE AN ANSWER!~

After the Ward Christmas party last Saturday, I hobbled out of the building, using Tony as my crutch. I tried to sleep in bed but my feet were burning and itching so bad, I went down to the couch. It was a miserable night and when I got up to go to church, I was an emotional wreck. I was crying and I told Tony, "I can't take this anymore! I want to go to the ER and find out what is wrong with me." Tony dressed quickly and went to the church to drop off some things for RS and the missionary meal sign up. 

 While he was gone, I called Traci and she was so happy I was finally going to the ER~ She said she was going to find out which doctor was on duty and she would give him the heads up. She called me back and said it was Dr. Washington, She said he was very nice and she told him a little bit of what I was dealing with. She said "he is expecting you and he will take good care of you!"

I was taken back to an ER room and put in a bed. They hooked me up to an IV and I was getting lots of fluids. I had to get up to pee several times. I was taken down to imaging and they did a CT scan with the color contrast. I gave a urine sample and numerous vials of blood!

Dr. Washington told me he was consulting with numerous specialists to see if they could figure out what was going on in my body. He took pictures of my lesions and put them in my file. Finally around 3 in the afternoon, he came in and said they were admitting me because they could run a lot of things in the hospital and accomplish so much more in a shorter period of time, rather than send me to this doctor one day and to another doctor another day! Sounded good to me! I just want to know!!

The stupid lesions were spreading and some getting very BIG! They start out as a small dot and then fill up with blood. They itch and burn and are very uncomfortable. At this point they were everywhere except my torso. I even have one on my eyelid. Then I got a shot in my stomach and the nurse said, "Well, you have them on your stomach now!"

They certainly aren't pretty either. I feel like I have leprosy.

My room with a view of the parking lot and COSTCO in the distance I wish I was shopping! lol! 

Well, once I was admitted, The fun continued. It seemed I was giving blood every few hours. I was poked and prodded continually but I have to say, the staff was all very nice! The nurses would rub a Benadryl cream on my feet and legs and hands to help with the itching and then they put a heavy sticky hydrocortisone on top of it and put socks on my feet. That was such a relief and helped the discomfort tremendously! I had to get a Covid test Sunday night. I've had two before and they swabbed the inside of my nose and it was not uncomfortable at all. This one felt like they were tickeling my brains. It didn't hurt but sure brought tears to my eyes. Shortly before bed time, they came in and told me I have Covid on top of all the other crap that is taking place!  Then the Kidney doctor {Christopher Kellar} said they determined I have CHURG-STRAUSS syndrome. It is a very rare auto immune disease. He believes it started 3 years ago when my chronic cough started.  He said auto immune diseases are so hard to pinpoint and usually takes a long time to figure them out. This one as been attacking my lungs, and that is why I was diagnosed with asthma and pneumonia 1st. But it is now attacking my kidney and skin, thus the lesion breakout.  He wanted to do a kidney biopsy but due to the fact I essentially only have one good kidney, he scheduled me to have a lesion biopsied. Unfortunately, the hospital doesn't have a dermatologist working at the hospital so I had to make an appointment after I was released. 

Tuesday morning, when they tried to give me my medications through the port, it all ran out onto my arm. It was getting very sore and uncomfortable and I guess that is why. It was going to have to come out and start over . 

NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT!! 

Finally the nurse came back in and gave me my medication orally and removed the port. He said it looked like they were going to send me home later in the afternoon, but it would ultimately be up to the kidney doctor. Finally, Doctor Keller came in and told me he was able to get me an appointment with him on December 28th in his clinic in Caldwell. Normally he is booked out 7 months. He was running more tests that would not be done for a few days and he didn't want to make me stay longer. He told me that my immune system is seriously compromised right now, so I am to quarantine the rest of this week and then after that he wants me to avoid crowds for a while. Tony came and got me and I was home around 4PM. Feels so good to be home, and I am so grateful to finally have a diagnosis and now how to move forward and get healthy, but I am totally exhausted. It it so hard for me to breathe and catch my breath after doing something easy like walking to the bathroom. None the less, I feel so blessed to live in a day with modern technology and good medical professionals. Now, to heal!!