Antibody titers tracked. Less than 100 is normal, was 600 at the start of June, 400 about 10 days later, 200 10 days after that. Whew. How nice that my level will soon be "normal". Of course, if my personal antibodies to strep attack my adrenalin system, well, those antibodies are around all the time. The "memory" of the strep infection ready to fire up when needed, the next time I get strep A.
My doctors won't let me do clinic yet. I'm allowed to see one to two patients a day. Turns out 6 weeks of paperwork is rather a pile, so I am staying busy.
I still can't do anything really aerobic. I keep starting to run up the stairs and getting instant chest pain. Oh, right, I can't do that. No bicycle, run, swim. I don't like to run anyhow, so there. I'm not sure if the chest pain and shortness of breath is because of the ten pounds I dropped the first week, or the remaining antibodies, or just being bloody sick as fungk for 3 weeks....One month of antibiotics. EEEyuck.
Asked someone for help in all this who'd been flirting with me for a year. Got complicated. I seem to be good at that. Other people turned up to help. My local hospital emphatically did not show up to help and in fact hurt, yet again. I'm a bit tired of that.
I'm tired. I am going to try to take a week of true vacation near the end of August. I was going to try to go to the lake but there is a single payer labor conference for health care and I want to go see a friend who is dying of lung cancer. Takes priority. The lake might be there next summer and me too maybe. We never know, do we?
The doc who is refusing to let me work more said on Friday that he doesn't believe in PANDAS. I said they are well known in China. He said I shouldn't self diagnose. I pointed out that I didn't: an infectious disease specialist and a psychiatrist/neurologist diagnosed it separately. He said I shouldn't self treat. I listed the EIGHTEEN physicians that I have contacted. Most didn't reply. Others just said no, they didn't think they were the right person. Interesting when they sound scared. Two were willing to help. I have an appointment with one August 5 and the other I need to call back, because I was asleep when his office called. I saw him two years ago. A rheumatologist. He said cheerfully then that he didn't know what I had but that he was happy to do more testing if it wasn't myasthenia gravis. That's another antibody disorder, good guess but it wasn't that. The doc on Friday also said I couldn't go back to work because they are worried I'll think everyone has strep. I need to send an email pointing out that those cases in 2012: I had the infectious disease doctor from the health department come review charts. He agreed. They had strep. I'm not making it up. He said that no one met the criteria for rheumatic fever, quite, but they had strep A. I have all the evaluations he did. I am anal about clinic notes......
Autoimmune: the body's self defense system attacks the body itself. Strep A has evolved with us and is good at imitating our proteins. Or having nearly the same proteins. Those one celled buggers, they are smart, aren't they? Stinkers.
Strep A was first seen through a microscope in Brazil*. Interesting factoid, right?
Take care.
*I made this up.