I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and introduce myself at the same time. My name is Anne, I'm 59 years old and live in Olympia, Washington. I was diagnosed with WG on April 12th of this year and have been reading the forum since a little before that. I've recently started posting and have connected with some of you that way and through private messages. I'm grateful for the existence of this forum; without it I would be lost, and it's time to express my appreciation.

I'm another case of delayed diagnosis. I had a severe ear infection, in both ears, in the fall of 2008, which debilitated me for a few weeks. That was followed by 2.5 years of sinus infections, hearing problems, allergy testing and shots, joint pain that came and went, all the typical stuff. I was mainly treated by a good ENT doc.

In the winter of 2011, I started having severe asthma-like symptoms on top of the sinus stuff, with a lot of coughing, some blood, some lung pain, and a seriously declining energy level. I went to a pulmonologist I'd been referred to in the past for asthma. After an xray reading, he put me in the hospital overnight for a CT scan and other tests. The scan showed numerous cavitary lesions, and the overseeing internist suggested Wegener's. That got me researching on the web, and I found the forum.

Right about that time, I discovered I had a saddle nose! Also, a lump near one ear, a swollen parotid gland. I got a quick appt. with the ENT doc, who found the hole in my septum and did a biopsy of that and the parotid gland. It came back positive for Wegener's, and I was in the pulmonologist's office when the results came in. He then and there prescribed oral Cytoxan and prednisone, which I was already on, and Bactrim DS was added a couple of weeks later. I've been under his care ever since, and things are going very well.

There are no WG specialists within 700 miles of here, but I have the info on consulting with them if necessary. I've also gotten recommendations from forum members about docs in Seattle. For now, I'm going with what I've got, since it seems to be working. My lungs are all cleared up and in good shape, and the sinus stuff has improved quite a bit, though I'm still coughing stuff up from the post nasal drip. My energy level has increased steadily and dramatically over what it was in April and May. I have no kidney involvement so far, and am thankful for that. I'm now experiencing the joys of tapering pred from 12.5mg to 10 mg. The joint pain that was suppressed by the pred has crept back in a bit, but nothing serious.

There are many more details I could go into but will save those for later. Although I'm doing well, this forum has made me well aware of the sneakiness and unpredictability of Wegs, and I'll be on my guard and be prepared to be proactive if things worsen. I look forward to interacting with all of you.

Anne