aloha, aB,
The medicos keep going around and around as to whether Undif Spond is pre-AS or an animal species in its own right.
An MRI showed no evidence of sacroilitis for me, which points more toward Undif Spondy, though it could be early AS.
Yup, this guy should take two minutes to look it up. Since he thinks I have "Loose Connective Tissue Disorder", I'll bet he's not about to look up AS himself. The LCTD is an absurd diagnosis for me, because every doctor, PT and chiropractor who has ever examined me has noted how tight I am.
I think I'll send the guy this link:
http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic2700.htm and hope he'll actually look at it. It's an excellent article on AS and Undif Spondy written by and for medical professionals. I've seen this doc more than 15 times and he's usually pretty open-minded, but sure wasn't at the last visit. I think he'll actually look at the link.
When I last saw my family doc, she admitted to knowing nothing about Undif Spondy and said she had never seen a female with AS. Boy, did I enlighten her! It was a really fun visit, because I lectured her on AS and Undif Spondy and its manifestations in woman, the evidence for Kleb and why the NSD works. She sat there, listening intently, actually taking notes on her laptop while I talked. A couple of times, she asked for clarification on a particular point and I provided her with it. On the way out, she said to me, "You are really good at this, Karen! Do you want to research any more diseases for me?" I think she should have paid me for that visit rather than the other way around.
I saw a PT for seven months last year. She was in many ways quite good. She recognized and diagnosed all of my biomechanical dysfunction, loosened key tight joints of mine and taught me how to walk using my muscles correctly. At the end, I told her I was diagnosed with Undif Spondy/AS and she was shocked. She said, "Every person with AS I've ever seen is bent over like this," and she hunched over, demonstrating kyphosis. I told her she had only seen males and only late-stage. I should give her the link also.
Why am I and my insurance company paying all of these people if I gots to do all the work?
Karen
