Hi there! My name is Teri and I am 38 years old! Here is my story....May 1996 was quite a month for me. That month I was involved in an car accident that has forever changed my life. We were rear-ended by a tow truck while waiting at a stop light.
This accident resulted in cervical and thoracic spine injuries for me as well as a moderate concussion. There was certainly one good thing about that though'... While in the emergency room, I found out that I was pregnant! That was certainly good, but it did prevent me from treatments for my injuries, (other than tylenol for pain, a cervical collar and physical therapy). I ended up with extremely painful muscle spasms in my back and neck that continued over time....long after my beautiful daughter was born.
I breast fed for 6+ months after she was born. I continued physical therapy, although by this time, there was no longer any progress being made. I lived each day with strange pain, tiredness and forgetfullness. There were times when my skin actually hurt. Some days I could not brush my hair because of the pain it would cause. In late 1997 I received the diagnosis of Post Traumatic Fibromyalgia.
Early 1998 I started nursing school and this may have been the beginning of the end for me. By summer of that year I was completely exhausted all of the time. I also was suffering from lymph node swelling and low grade temperatures. Springtime 1999 was a killer with headaches beyond excruciating. I was being treated as if they were typical migraines, but treatments were unhelpful. I was even going to a pain management center and receiving occipital nerve blocks...( basically Lidocaine injections to the back of my head). I was having headaches at least 2-3 times a week. Headaches that left me completely worthless. Near the end of the semester I was having red, blotchy, raised and itchy facial rashes. I would just wake up with them. This is when my primary doctor decided that maybe it wasn't just stress causing my symptoms and he sent me for some immunological blood tests. My ANA, (anti-nuclear antibody) was highly positive. Right then and there, he got me in to see a Rheumatologist.
After more tests that I can recall by the end of 1999 I had been diagnosed with Systemic Lupus, and then after a hospitalization for a renal biopsy, I was also diagnosed with a Class V Membranous Nephritis. Regardless of all of the above, I did manage to complete my last semester, (against my doctor's wishes), and graduated from nursing school in December of 1999 in the top 5% of my class.
Since then, symptoms have evolved to include, Raynaud's, reflux, (which is part of another entity called CREST Syndrome or Limited Scleroderma), Sjogren's, IBS and delayed gastric motility, migraine headaches, and hair loss. This is where the diagnosis of Mixed Connective Tissue Disease has come into play. I also have sinovitis and osteoarthritis.
The stress of the demise of my marriage certainly came into play with more bad days then good days for some time, but now, more than 5 years later, things are relatively stable. I do my best to keep stress at a minimum and have learned stress management techniques and to just "let things go" to the best of my ability.
Since June of 2004 I have been a participant in a clinical drug trial for a monthly IV infusion medication that may someday be approved for the treatment of Lupus. Since being in the study I have had improvement with some key lab values, and we now know that I have been getting a dose of the drug all along. As of December 2005, I have entered Phase III of the study now saving data for longterm safety of the drug. What I know for sure is, that the improvement in my kidney function keeps me content that my decision to participate in the study was well founded and justified. Currently they believe that my kidney disease is not active, although they use the term "remission" cautiously. Regardless, with the Fibromyalgia, Sinovitis and osteoarthritis in my feet and spine, and migraine headaches, I do not live any day without some degree of pain..... although most days now, pain doesnt creep in until later in the evenings.
I do my best to keep a positive attitude and I am ultimately thankful for all that I have been blessed with.
I am also more than thankful for the continued support of my family and friends. They all mean the world to me and without their support I dont know just where I'd be!!!!
