It's worthy of a celebration!

[Bor the Barbarian Monk]

Okay...I don't expect to see this thread live very long, but it's news-worthy. Y'see, I've been venting in the Depression Thread about my worries over a complication of diabetes that has been affecting me the last few months. For the longest time, I thought it was Charcot-Marie-Tooth's disease (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charcot%E2%80%93Marie%E2%80%93Tooth_disease), (CMT), which could very well end with me losing my foot. My foot would remodel itself to the point of being too painful to support my weight, and that would be the end of the foot.

But the news isn't THAT bad! I saw a "special specialist" yesterday, (he only deals with ankles and feet), and he rather firmly believes that it's not CMT, but Charcot arthropathy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charcot_arthropathy). He also doesn't believe I have osteomyelitis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteomyelitis), but has actually ordered a test that will rule it out 99%, if only to quell my fears! (Imagine that...an orthopedic special specialist who cares about how a patient FEELS! :smallamused: ) (And that 99% thing is because no test is really 100%. False positives are always a possibility.)

This is cause for celebration, folks! The ongoing fear that I'd be losing my right foot has been set aside, replaced with only the discomfort of wearing a variety of casts for the next three months, and then a brace for a long time to keep my foot in its proper shape. I'll take that over amputation any day! :smallbiggrin:

[LaZodiac]

This reminds me of an appropriate song.

Put one fooot in front of the ooootheeer, and soon you'll be walking cross the flooo-ooo-ooor!

Not going to sing the rest. Also, worthy, not worhty, but that's ok, being excited makes people goof up with words like that :smallsmile:

[Bor the Barbarian Monk]

I fixed it, so :smalltongue: !

[Giggling Ghast]

Any day you get to keep all your limbs is a good day. :smallbiggrin:

[Occasional Sage]

Awesome! I'm stoked that you found a genuinely good person with a medical degree too, those are hard to come by. Thanks go out to the insurance industry for pushing doctors to be mediocre people in their practice.

[Form]

Indeed it is. Most excellent news! :smallbiggrin:

[ForzaFiori]

Congrats man! Keeping your limbs is definitely cause for celebration. :smallbiggrin:

[WarKitty]

Glad it's going well - although losing a limb would make for a great barbarian look. :smallwink:

[Mono Vertigo]

Indeed, that's worthy of celebrating. Congratulations, and hope that arthropathy is healing fast! :smallsmile:

[Asthix]

May you overcome this in fine style, Bor!

[MoonCat]

That's wonderful Bor! I'm so happy for you!

[Asta Kask]

Congratulations!

And remember everyone, when you are testing for a rare, serious disease it's always vastly more probable that a positive result on the first test is a false positive. The tests are designed that way because it's so serious to miss someone who really is sick.

[Bor the Barbarian Monk]

Congratulations!

And remember everyone, when you are testing for a rare, serious disease it's always vastly more probable that a positive result on the first test is a false positive. The tests are designed that way because it's so serious to miss someone who really is sick.
Ummm...This test will probably not bring that infamous false positive, but it's always worth mentioning the possibility. What they'll be doing is drawing a little blood from me, then add a radioactive isotope and inject it back into me. Then they follow the white blood cells to see what they go after. They'll be looking directly at my foot to see if the cells run there, and if they do, I have more to worry about. (The potentially infected bone will light up like a Christmas tree.) Still, the doc was fairly certain a bone infection isn't there. He's just doing this for my peace of mind. :smallsmile:

[Asta Kask]

The second test will be much better at not yielding false positives.

[Occasional Sage]

Congratulations!

And remember everyone, when you are testing for a rare, serious disease it's always vastly more probable that a positive result on the first test is a false positive. The tests are designed that way because it's so serious to miss someone who really is sick.


The second test will be much better at not yielding false positives.

On what are you basing this?

[Gaelbert]

Congratulations, that's awesome! I'm really happy for you.

[Lateral]

Oh, joyous day! Congratulations! Mazel tov! Gesundheit!

[Blue Ghost]

This is wonderful. Hugs for you, good Bor!

[Haruki-kun]

*hugs* Congratulations, Bor, I'm so happy for you. It's only fair that someone who helps so many people receive some good news himself.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Simple 'yay's do not express how good this news is. Yay! :smallbiggrin:

[Razgriez]

That's great to hear Bor, glad to hear the good news and that things are much better than was first feared.
May those test continue to bring good news, and the next phase with the Cast and braces to go smoothly for you.

[WalkingTarget]

Great to hear that, Bor! Glad the specialist2 seems to care about you as more than a set of symptoms.

[rakkoon]

Glad to hear you're being helped and it looks good.
Good luck Bor, we're all thinking of you

[Teddy]

Glad to hear that, Bor. And as you use to say yourself:

Be well! :smallsmile:
:smallwink:

[Borgh]

Yay! no need to change to Bor the Pirate Monk!

[Bor the Barbarian Monk]

Thanks, everyone! You have no idea what the stress has been like, with various reports coming back saying, "Maybe it's this, and maybe it's that"...with "this" and "that" being quite serious problems. Thankfully, the guy who does nothing but handles feet and ankles was able to define the problem, allowing me to sleep somewhat better at night...

Although, admittedly, sleeping with a GIANT cast doesn't make sleeping all that easy, it's been more psychologically restful. :smallsmile:

[arguskos]

Congratulations, Bor! Great news, really glad to hear it. :smallbiggrin:

[Lady Moreta]

That's fantastic news! How wonderful :smallbiggrin:

I'm so relieved for you :smallbiggrin:


On what are you basing this?

It's some weird statistics thing... he's right though, it is true. If you're really curious, I will get my maths-teacher husband to come and explain it... he's already explained it to me half a dozen time and I just don't get it, but I trust him :smallsmile:

[Eon]

Hope you heel quickly :smallwink:


Congrats Bor!

[rayne_dragon]

Glad to hear it's not as serious as you thought it might be. And congrats on finding an awesome doctor.

[Asta Kask]

On what are you basing this?

Say that the true rate of diseased is 1 in 1000, and that the test sorts out 95% of all those who don't have the disease (and catches all who have the disease). What is the probability that a positive result is false?

2%. The test catches the guy with the disease and 5% of 1000=50 people who don't. So one in 51 actually has the test. You use a sensitive test because you have to catch them all. Remember, we are talking a serious, rare disease here.

But for the second test, you have concentrated your material and can use a test with higher specificity.

You usually can't get a test which is both sensitive and specific, because there's overlap between healthy and diseased individuals. For AIDS, for example, you count a specific type of white blood cells. Some people have low counts naturally, some AIDS victims have normal counts - maybe they started from a high level.

[Bor the Barbarian Monk]

Say that the true rate of diseased is 1 in 1000, and that the test sorts out 95% of all those who don't have the disease (and catches all who have the disease). What is the probability that a positive result is false?

2%. The test catches the guy with the disease and 5% of 1000=50 people who don't. So one in 51 actually has the test. You use a sensitive test because you have to catch them all. Remember, we are talking a serious, rare disease here.

But for the second test, you have concentrated your material and can use a test with higher specificity.

You usually can't get a test which is both sensitive and specific, because there's overlap between healthy and diseased individuals. For AIDS, for example, you count a specific type of white blood cells. Some people have low counts naturally, some AIDS victims have normal counts - maybe they started from a high level.
Let's not stray too far off topic here, gang. This is about my serious complication being serious, but not seriously serious.

But in answer to this, they'll be using MY white blood cells, not just some random white blood cells in a bag in a freezer somewhere. The add the radioactive isotope to turn them into microscopic Hulks that will...ummm...no, wait. I have that wrong. They irradiate them so they'll light up on the whatever radiology method they'll be using.

For the most part, white blood cells recognize that which is supposed to be in the body and that which isn't by reading the protein structure of things. (Except a certain diabetic's beta cells in his islets of Langerhans, which they killed when he was seven, thereby making him the diabetic he is today.) So MY white blood cells should have a good idea of what does and doesn't belong in ME, and light up that test...if there's a problem.

It's a relief to be having this test because up until now, two previous sets of x-rays and an MRI have all come back with reports of false negatives and positive maybes. "It most definitely could be this or that, and we shouldn't rule them out, but we can't be sure. Oh, and his third metatarsal is deformed from a previous break." (Yeah, I knew that last part. Thanks.)

So speaking about odds...The odds of me being happier about being in a cast for three months, receiving a new one every two weeks, is pretty high when I 'd been considering the worst, which was the loss of a foot. Mind you, there was so much pain involved that I'd considered TELLING them to skip to the chase and cut the danged thing off. Isolating my movement has helped a lot with the pain, which is also a good thing.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled celebratory hora. :smallbiggrin:

[Asta Kask]

I drink in your honor, Barbarian Monk.

[shawnhcorey]

Any day you get to keep all your limbs is a good day. :smallbiggrin:

Can I quote you on that? Sometimes people just say things that put the whole world into perspective.

[grimbold]

i am so happy for you Bor
you can remain a light to the playground

[bluewind95]

I am very glad to hear (well... read, technically) this! I wish I could say more. I'm just so tired. But I really am very glad to hear this.

[Bor the Barbarian Monk]

The news actually got a little better today. The first cast was removed to reveal the welling is down, and that there is a reduction in the redness of the skin. During a little Q & A with the special specialist, he said that I may beat the requirement of casting of my foot for three months. (Typical treatment involves casting for three to nine months.)

Oh...as for that pesky test I was supposed to have. They couldn't get me scheduled until 11 July. Seems no one is in a great rush to see if I have that rather dangerous bone infection. Then again, if said infection existed, it would be boring its way out of my foot to drain, which it doesn't seem to be doing.

Just thought I'd update. :smallsmile:

[LaZodiac]

Hooray. Good luck Bor. It seems like your foot will be fine. So don't worry, ok? Worrying does make it worse. Keep confident *pats on the back*