My first few appointments were strictly x-rays, measurements of my face, and a consultation. The first time I really knew he was a great doctor was when he said that he wanted to figure out exactly what was going on with me. WHY was my own body attacking my joints and bone? He sent me to a rheumatologist, Dr. Cheatum, who I sincerely think is a vampire (a nice one). My dad made the appointment for me and said "Ok, he has one appointment available tomorrow. But it's at 4am in Dallas..." I was clearly shocked that I had to wake up at 3am to go to the doctor, but we had to take it so we could get this process moving quicker. Dr. Cheatum is a quiet man, but you can tell he is a genius and incredibly good at what he does. He asked me questions, did a physical exam of my joints, and took blood... A LOT of blood (vampire hint number 2). As you can see in the picture, they took roughly 90% of my body's blood (kidding, but it felt like it). I literally almost passed out from blood loss. They had to test me for several different auto-immune disorders and each one required a blood sample.
At the end of my appointment, he gave me a packet that explained what he thought I may have and requested that I get an MRI. At my follow up appointment, he concluded that I have rheumatoid arthritis. Finding out that you have rheumatoid arthritis at age 20 is pretty nerve racking. I now have to be on medication for the rest of my life and hope that I can keep my other joints from deteriorating like my jaw for as long as I can.
For my next appointment with Dr. Bates, he asked that both my parents be there to talk about what's going on now, what needs to be done, and how much it would cost. In my next post I will explain what happened in that appointment.
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