How Do YOU Think You Got Wegs (No answer is wrong) And ...

[mishb]

Stress seams to be a common theme here.
Maybe the NHS or medical insurance should pay for a holiday for us all to meet up. It could save them money in the long run if we all destress and achieve remission!

I love the way you think

[little sister]

I think it is probably a combination of many factors including genetics. I was seldom ill as a child except for tonsillitis and tonsillectomy at age 12. Not really any allergies to speak of. Maybe "hay fever" occasionally. Usually if I got a cold I would recover fairly quickly. Fast forward to 2008. Took a really crappy job at a branch of a national drug store chain. Developed severe psoriasis on hands which dermatologist thought was probably due to removing large quantities of wrapping from cosmetics on truck days. I was tested for psoriatic arthritis December 2012 because I suddenly developed arthritis in thumbs but was diagnosed as osteoarthritis. Very stressful job that I quit November 2013. Psoriasis went away almost immediately. Meanwhile one of my sisters also began working for the same chain where she lived in Florida back in 2008. In January 2014 she went to hospital with eye problem. She was back in ER again in March for joint issues. As result of labs done there her primary care referred her to a rheumatologist in April. Soonest she could get an appointment was June. Before the appointment she ended up in hospital with kidney failure. She was too sick for regular course of cytoxan so she was given it at "half-dose". She passed away in Oct.2014. Christmas Day 2014, I catch a cold that develops into sinus infection. After trying several antibiotics my son convinces me to see his ENT. Skipping a lot of the story, by May I am diagnosed with GPA. So.. is the connection just genetics? My rheum at Hopkins says while it is rare, I am not the first case she has seen with another immediate family member. However, my sister would have also been exposed to the same chemicals in wrappers and packaging as I was. So is that the connection? I had also been to visit her for several weeks in 2013 while her husband was in the hospital. Were we exposed to something there during that time?