Out In Left Field

Ok, so I'm mostly done with freaking out over the idea of being checked out for a form of cancer. And I'm definitely done with reading about multiple myeloma on the Web.

Sometimes I think the Internet is a dangerous thing because I get way more information than I really wanted, especially when it comes to a possible diagnoses.

My uncle, who's a retired anesthesiologist and a good diagnostician, assured me via email (in a rather morbid way) by saying, "One would think if you had cancer, it would have done you in by now."

It would have been easy to take that the wrong way, but it made me laugh out loud and even reassured me quite a bit.

It's just so frustrating that after nearly five months of doctor visits, blood tests, MRIs, a bronchoscopy, CT scans, EKGs, echocardiograms, a nerve conduction test and so many different meds, we would know what is wrong with me by now and be treating it and not just continuing to run tests after tests.

It seems like every time I turn around, a doctor comes up with a theory out of left field. First it was "bad asthma." Then my ANA came back positive but just weakly so, and I went to a rheumatologist. What does he think? He thinks it's parvovirus (Fifth Disease) and wants to wait and see if all my symptoms go away.

Yeah, like that worked.

And now this multiple myeloma thing. Am I even old enough to have it? Web sites suggest that the vast majority of people are over 60 when they develop it and over 50 percent are 71 or older. I'm just a kid compared to that.

Meanwhile, I have more tests to look forward to. Oh, joy.