I love my migraine doctor. Yes, she sticks me with at least one needle everytime I see her, but she has been my advocate for years. She's gone out of her way to try and figure out what causes my random symptoms of periodic fevers, sore throats, body aches, extreme/debilitating fatigue, etc.

Over a year ago I had brought her pictures of my hands during a Raynaud's attack. It had been a particularly bad attack because my hands were still numb and white for over an hour - 45 min of which was spent doing a cardio workout. These pictures generally make doctors very uncomfortable because with the frequency and severity of my attacks two winters ago I should have started the process of having gangrene or some tissue necrosis. The fact that I haven't had either one is a testimony of God's healing power. Fortunately, my attacks this winter weren't nearly as severe. Currently Dr. Lynda uses these pictures during her presentations as she is quickly becoming an expert in the area of raynauds as well as migraines. Actually the two conditions are more closely linked than most people realize.

Anyway....a few months ago Dr. Lynda had another patient in her office telling her about how bad her raynauds were. Dr. Lynda showed her my pictures and said "Do your hands look like this?". The patient said that her hands looked exactly like that, to which Dr. Lynda then thought "Uh oh....another one?!?". She then told her patient that she may need to see a rheumatoid arthritis doctor....just in case. Last week I saw Dr. Lynda and she told me that she had gotten an e-mail from this other patient. She was just diagnosed with sclerderma.

I'm still waiting to be diagnosed with either a form of sclerderma or another autoimmune disorder. My antibodies have been positive for many years for CREST syndrome and some of the symptoms I experience can be related to having CREST. This week I will be going for a lung CT in hopes of finding answers to why I have suddenly had severe asthma for the past 6 months. Just yesterday I went into two asthma attacks and I was on the advair inhaler. What my doctor is looking for is a complication of CREST syndrome that can look like asthma to most people, including other doctors.

Some days it is honestly very frustrating for me not to have a diagnosis of some sort. There are even days where I think that I must be crazy and that this "sickness" is all in my head. Fortunately more and more doctors have started taking me and my symptoms seriously, which helps me to know that there's some validity to my complaints.

Even if I never get an actual diagnosis I am very thankful that God used my symptoms and my medical complaints to educate my doctor about the link between severe Raynauds and autoimmune disorders like sclerderma in order to help others.