Hello everyone, I was just diagnosed with GPA 2 days ago, so I'm still in a state of shock. I had been ill for several months with bizarre symptoms (eardrum ruptures that didn't heal, flu-like aches, and eventually migrating joint pain) and I finally went to see my GPwho ran some tests that all came back negative, but got me on Prednisone. I immediately felt better, but was uncertain what lay ahead. It took awhile to get an appointment with a Rheumatologist who took little time in diagnosing me with Weggener's.
Needless to say, I was stunned. I didn't see it coming. We suspected an AI, but this was a pretty devastating diagnosis. He didn't really give me a lot of information during our session, so what I've learned from Google has been on my own. I'll tell ya, it's scary. (Obviously, I don't have to tell ya. You can all relate.)
So, I'm here to learn, hopefully laugh some, and to be part of a community that supports each other.
I have a wife and a young daughter and I'm not sure what the future will hold, and that is scary.
Right now, the Prednisone is doing it's thing, but I don't see my doc again for 6 weeks. As soon as I found out about the disease, I wondered if I should be waiting that long to get on the maintenance meds. He is leaning towards Cellcept, or as a second choice Methotrexate.
There is not a lot of "positive press" about GPA on Google, so it's been a pretty rough couple of days gathering information.
So, hello to all. Glad I found you.

Brian