Thanks, but don't forget me
This is open letter to all who responded to my plea for help regarding
my 14-year old daughter, especially to Arthur Doherty, who sent me
lots of information! We saw the doctor today, who is a pediatric
rheumatologist specializing in LD. She gave my daughter a thorough
exam and also had an associate look at her while there. They both are
convinced it is NOT a recurrence of LD. Said it was a form of
tendinitis because (a) she didn't have symptoms in her shoulder(s)
before; (b) LD does not usually affect the shoulder; (c) there was no
fluid in the joint; (d) LD relapses generally cause the same symptoms,
i.e. in her case, swollen knee; and (e) she was treated twice with
{*filter*}doxy, the second time for a period of 3 months. They prescribed
physical therapy for the shoulder, but did agree to run a series of
{*filter*} tests for LD titers (even though we all know they will be
positive, as they were positive before) just to see where they stand,
and the slight possibility this is a NEW infection. They also ran an
IGM (not sure if that's the right initials), another Western blot,
urine test, ANA (don't know what that is) and chem profiles to see if
there was any OTHER rheumatic problem going on, but they felt this was
unlikely. Because she studies ballet 6 days a week, they seem to feel
these "problems" are due to her extreme joint flexibility and she
needs to strengthen the muscles around the tendons, etc. On
examination, she could not raise her arm to 90 degrees either to front
or side and appeared to be in much pain. NO abx were prescribed. I
now have to wait a week to get results of {*filter*} tests.
I am worried, because of all I've read here and the fact that I am
very familiar with LD, having had it myself. I tested positive way
back when hardly anyone was testing positive, and was treated with
{*filter*}abx once, symptoms returned, then again for longer period. Being
allergic to all forms of penicillin and cephalosporins created some
concern, they ended up giving me Biaxin and doxy combination, and I
have been symptom free for 6 years. My daughter's complaints just
sound too bizarre to be simple tendinitis and she is not a
"complainer" because of the extreme physical discipline she's been
training since she was 8 years old. I said "don't forget me" in the
subject line because I have a feeling I'll be dealing with this again.
The situation is creating all sorts of complications because of the
fact that she doesn't live at home, and if she ends up needing IV she
will have to leave her training and school. But I'm very
uncomfortable doing "nothing". I have about 3 weeks of doxy left over
from last time and am half considering treating her myself, but
stopping just short of that for now, because if it IS LD, then we
probably should have something other than doxy in her case. Anyway,
thanks again and good luck to all of you. I'll post again when I get
these test results. At this point, this newsgroup seems to have more
knowledge and information than any doctor I've personally seen. That
should not be!
Koo
