Hello,

i would like to start by saying I am very glad to have found this forum. just from searching here i have found answers to many questions already.

So long story kind of short. My wife is 27 years old and a healthy person before she started getting sick in September she was running 5k's and training for even longer races. she is a active person that would go running almost everyday of the week. In September right before her first big 10k trail run she got sick with what we thought was just a cold. needless to say it never really got better and after multiple trips to the doctor they said it was bronchitis and that it may last a few weeks and sent her home with some otc meds. by November she developed a heavy dry cough and went back to doctor that took a chest Xray and said she had pneumonia based on a small cloudy spot they saw and sent her home with some antibiotics and if it didnt clear up by the end of the meds get another chest X ray..well she started to feel a little better but still had her cough and went in for another chest Xray around this time she noticed spots of blood that she was coughing up and had one major bloody nose but also noticed blood in her snot.

so that leads us up to about last week. when she called her doctor to schedule a fallow up on her last chest X ray. the doctor saw a Cavity in her lung and had her admitted right away. so after 4 days in the hospital and many blood test, a C scan that showed 3 cavities and a lung biopsy they have concluded she has Wegeners do to the ANCA in her blood test and from what the docot said was granulosus in her biopsy. but the biopsy was sent to what they called a specialist arizona to review. this where i still hold out a little hope it may be because of possible fungil reading as he said they are waiting on some stains to come back. but all her other fungal test where negative.

the pulminary doctor and rheumotlogist (both who have dealt with wegeners) decided it would be best for her to start prednisone. 60mg daily and hold off on Cytoxan untill they get the biopsy results back and are 100% sure..right now they say they its 99.9% sure she has wegeners.

so that leads me to a few questions.

she started 60mg pred thursday and i was wondering how long it will most likely take untill she starts feeling some what normal ?? the doctor said the pred would help her get her energy back??

we see the fertility doctor on monday about the possibility of harvesting eggs..this may delay the treatment of cytoxan. her health is the #1 priority and if the disease is gonna advance anymore we may just start the cytoxan and heavy doses of birth control to possibly help protect her so if and when she goes into remission we may still be able to have kids..but at the same time we are undecided even if she went into remission if we would want to have kids because of possible birth defects/complications and the high risk pregnancy.
this is the tuffist part of it all as we where preparing to hopefully get pregnant in the new year.

what are your opinions about pregnancy post diagnosis ?? what are the odds of being able to get pregnant and have a healthy child?? (harvest eggs/naturally??)

i am not sure what the dosage will be for cytoxan but we see the rheumy monday after noon as well an i will ask. but it will be a pill dosage at home and no IV and the taper down to the metha what ever its called.

will she lose hair?? will it wipe her out?? should we plan on her taking off work and beign on disability?

our hopes are she is a healthy young woman and the disease seems isolated that we can get on it soon and hopefully get it in remission


sorry for the long winded post..i thought i could keep it shorter.


Thanks
Jeff