relief

I don't have rheumatoid arthritis, and I'm so relieved. It wouldn't have been a death sentence, and I'm sure it would have been manageable. But I am so glad I don't have to add another layer of complication to my wrist problems.

The blood work was unambiguously negative, except for the initial high rheumatoid factor (RF) which the rheumatologist says to just ignore now. Some people just test high, and it means that test is probably forever useless to me. If I start to have real symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis I need to go to him directly for the higher level tests.

The ultrasound was very obvious, to the doctor anyway, but even to me in a way. I couldn't tell if the bones were ok, but it was really clear that my tendon is very inflamed and enlarged - that's the DeQuervain's tendonitis, that I've known about for 9 months now, and that I've had 2 cortisone shots for, and that obviously isn't healing totally. So, it's back to the same old story. What am I doing to stress my wrist? And I'm going to have to figure this out, or I will end up in surgery one day. But, just for today - I'm going to be happy with what it is, and not something more.