Day 7 — Blood, California, and My Anxiety

Well… I just got home from the lab. Again. I feel like at this point they should know me by name and maybe offer me a punch card. Ten pokes and the eleventh one’s free.

Yesterday, the rheumatologist ordered a very intense autoimmune test called the AVISE CTD. Apparently, this one can help rule in or rule out rheumatoid arthritis or other autoimmune diseases that have been playing hide and seek in my labs. Fun, right?

I’m not gonna lie — I’m a nervous wreck.

Because here’s the deal. If it comes back positive, that means autoimmune disease. The kind that doesn’t pack up and leave. The kind you live with. The kind you fight. But if it comes back completely negative? Then congratulations to me, I’m back at square one with zero answers and all the same pain. Cool cool cool.

To make it even more dramatic, my blood is currently being shipped to California. Yes. My blood is traveling more than I am. It’s being sent out by 3 p.m. today, and once it gets there, the doctor should have results in about five business days.

BUT. And this is a big but.

I don’t get to see those results until my next appointment on February 6th. So even if the doctor knows, I don’t. Which means I’ll be waiting… and waiting… and overthinking every possible scenario for the next month.

So now we wait. Waiting while hurting. Waiting while trying not to Google myself into a full-blown panic. Waiting while reminding myself that answers — good or bad — are still better than no answers at all.

Wish me luck. Pray for my veins. And maybe send snacks.

PS: Day 7 — done.