Introduction

[Gail Lee]

Hi, my name is Gail Lee and I am from Michigan. I happened to stumble on this website last night while looking for information regarding flareups. I initially became sick in July 2011. I spent the next 7 months going from one specialist to another (ENT's to allergists - 5 in all) and just kept being diagnosed with Sinusitis. I was on a wide range of antibiotics and on and off again prednisone for those 7 months as I steadily got worse. I was able to get in to an ENT/Sinus specialist at the University of Michigan in February 2012. I feel Dr. Zacharek saved my life. Within 1 1/2 hours of being in his office, I had a diagnosis. It had to be confirmed, but he was right. At this point, I could barely see as my nose was so swollen that only an old pair of glasses would fit. Bright lights bothered me so bad and I had lost hearing in my right ear. I was a mess, but when I left his office I was on the road to recovery. I had to go back the following week to visit the Rheumatology/Internal Medicine Department. Tests were done to confirm Wegener's Granulomatosis (GPA) and I was scheduled for my first Rituxan treatment. I am currently off of Predinsone but am still on Methotrexate. I believe that I was on Prednisone from the time I was diagnosed for 16 months. I feel much better now, but I am bothered with fatigue. Some days I just have to take a nap. I also seem to get skin rashes - mostly on my fingers and on my feet. I hope to learn a lot from joining this Forum and hope to be able to contribute to it too. I am an animal lover with 3 dogs and 2 cats. I also love to travel and just arrived home from a short time to Kentucky.
I am also a member of the Vasculitis Foundation and attended their symposium in Philadelphia in July 2013. I plan on attending the next one in 2015 too.:biggrin1:

[Michael Bell]

Hi Gail, welcome to the forum. I joined last year after a very bad time when almost everything stopped working, I spent five and a half months in hospital but three months after getting out i was able to start back at work and have now returned full time. I still have the odd day when I get fatigued but it's something that has eased since I first got ill. I hope things continue to improve for you. I also have two cats, by default(it was de fault of my youngest son who left them with me when he went off to college).