This isn't going to be one of those "risible" posts. I'm having anxiety over the unknown.

I've had this liver "thing" for about 20 years now. When I was first diagnosed I was told that they didn't know what caused it, but I'd feel like I had the flu all the time, then told to go live my life. I wasn't very satisfied with that. I was on the internet searching for something to explain this for days and days. Some things fit, some things didn't. I'd give up after a while.

Then, when  I'd have to get a new doctor (I moved, doctor moved, doctor referral, etc.) and the new doctors would test for things and I'd go through the internet research process all over again. The new doctors would always come to the same conclusion as the first one.

One doctor even took my galbladder out thinking that would solve the problem. It didn't. So, 20 years of this. Fast forward to now.

I've just recently gotten over a 3 week liver flare-up. Worst I've had in years, and I ended up in the ER 3 weeks ago. The ER doctor recommended that I follow up with my doctor. This is a new doctor to me because I've moved. So, she ran labs. No surprise, they came back bad. Ran more labs, this time wanted me to fast.

I was kind of rolling my eyes at the whole thing because every new doctor I get has to run all the tests for themselves. She noticed something in my labs that has never been looked at. I have an extremely low level of something called Alpha-1 antitrypsin. Nobody has ever looked into this before or even done a fasting blood test. I'd never heard of it, so came home and looked it up.

I'm literally stunned at how obvious this seems. There is a disease called Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. It was very easy to find on Google. In a nutshell it's a genetic defect that causes liver and lung disease. If bad enough it can eventually cause cirrhosis and emphysema. According to everything that I'm reading, my health history fits this to a T. I have never associated my liver problems with lung problems that I've also been plagued with. Now those pieces of the puzzle fit together.

The doctor ordered a genotyping test. This is the test that will show what my chances are of developing cirrhosis or emphysema or both. That was almost three weeks ago. I started to relax because I thought since I hadn't heard from the doctor, it came back ok. Not so.

The doctor was on vacation all this time. The nurse just called on Monday and said that my doctor wants to discuss my results with me in person and discuss my options. She didn't want to discuss over the phone. She wanted me to come in the next day, but I have huge commitments at work that I couldn't get out of. I can't come in until Friday. So, now I wait.