A new week, a new diagnosis. . .

There is rarely a dull moment with autoimmune patients but this week was particularly interesting.

My rheumatologist received the results of a bunch of really detailed, advanced, highly specific (those are all medical code words for expensive) tests and decided that my primary diagnosis is actually rheumatoid arthritis.

I am not particularly surprised, as I do have a family history, plenty of the symptoms, and the oh-so-attractive RA nodules.

At first, I was quite upset because my great aunt who had it suffered terribly with horrible joint pain and deformities. She was wheelchair bound for many years and also dealt with the awful side effects of long term high dose prednisone therapy which can get really ugly.

I immediately began having visions of not being able to take care of my family or my animals or my patients.

In my mind, briefly, my travel bucket list was also being taken away and replaced with a rocking chair at age 40.

Luckily, this was a short-lived nervous breakdown before the positives of this new primary diagnosis began to emerge:

- There are many more treatments available for RA than for most of the autoimmune diseases

- There are many more treatments for RA than there were thirty years ago when I remember my sweet aunt being so sick (so pipe down, Miranda's brain).

- Now that we know what is causing this insane body pain, we can begin to address it properly.

All of that was on the 10th.

Now that I've had a few more days to process this information, a weekend off work, and some much needed church this morning, I am feeling even better.

This afternoon, I rewatched Christine Caine's sermon at our church earlier this month and here is a link:

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/possessing-the-promised-land

Y'all, I know I've mentioned it before. I'm sure I'll be mentioning it again.

Because:

It is one of the best sermons I've EVER heard.

It's one of those that is just right on time when you need it (like when the Lord knows you have some fan-freaking-tastic health news right around the corner) and it is chockful of the real deal good stuff.

Anyway, the central theme in her sermon that the truth of God's word is higher than any fact of this world and that is what we are to build our lives on.

As long as we are still waking up and kicking, God still has stuff for us to do.

It's that simple.

I know this to be true, I believe it with all of my heart, and I share the same thing with loved ones when they are facing illness as well.

It just takes a bit to recover from the tailspin of a new health issue.

Now, though, I have a great doctor who is carefully choosing the best medicine to start with, I have wonderfully supportive husband and family, and I will do all that I need to take good care of myself.

The rest is in God's hands and I believe that He has lots left for me to do and get into - even my travel bucket list. :)