Frustrated *AGAIN* with doctors!!

WEDNESDAY: So, after not hearing back from either of my doctors (Rheumetologist OR Pulmanologist) I call them. Rheumey is still out of the office - I guess he is on vacation...I see him the end of the month, so I have given up on getting in touch with him... I will just wait.  The nurse at the pulmanologist says that he is back on rounds this week, that he was in the office last week. (Which means they didn't talk to him nor did they call me back and let me know anything).  She pulled my chart and read what the doctor said...CT scan looks good - consistent with pass scans, no reason to biopsy now, put on call back for 6 months.  SO, even though I am still hurting and I cannot breathe without pain, he thinks I am fine to wait six months.

After researching and thinking that I may have pleurisy, I decide to call my pcp and I get an appt. for Thursday morning.  Meanwhile, I go to Ann's Health Food Store and have a nice long talk with her... She gave me a couple of books to read and make copies of and she talked with me and gave me some ideas and some encouragement.  I am starting with Melatonin - to help me sleep- hoping that sleeping better will help a lot of things.  While I am working on making sure that is going to work and seeing how I need to take it, I am going to be doing some research on other options...

THURSDAY:  Primary care doc seems to agree that it is pleurisy, and is concerned about the long term, since it is Lupus related.  He doesn't want me back in the office every three months when the steroids wear off.  He also made me do a breathing test.  The results from this test were apparently different from others I have taken with other doctors.  This test shows that I have severe airway obstruction and am high risk for COPD - both of which the other two docs have said was not a worry.  He put me on some steroids and an antiinflamitory to clear up the pleurisy for the time and he also put me on 2 different inhalers - never had them before....

So, we shall see how things go from here... curious as to what the doctor will say when I see him this month...