I dont know about in canada honey, but I do know yall are usually miles ahead of us in allowing drugs, protocols, etc.....like remicade and enbrel were ok for AS in canada before here for sure....
I do know, AS can become entractable, meaning, you wont shut it down or slow it down when it gets to that point. It wins.......
Lets say you had thyroid cancer, but non hodgkins, over 44,000 cases are reported in the us every yr, one of the most common cancers.
The dr takes out the tumor, and gives you chemo, do you do radiation? Some do some dont.but if ONE SINGLE CANCER CELL LIVES< AND MIGRATES< YOU DIE
period end of story, no do overs, no second chances, no time outs..you bought it, you own it.
SOme say, it is too aggressive, but I wonder if it was their own child, would there be anything too aggressive. How can you can cure/treat a disease and be too aggressive? You cannot is you adhere to the first hyppocratic principle, first, do no harm........
Ask him this, will he care for your family if you get the heart defect that comes with AS? Will he step up if you are struck by the urinary troubles, or have to have multiple plantar surgeries and cannot walk? He will say thatis not his to do, then the decision about what is aggressive, or to be aggressive rather, is not his to make alone.
I wigged when I got this, total freak out, because I have seen MUCH of it in my work, and it is one of the very very few times a world class surgeon will look at someone with true pity. So I was afraid. I saw my drs have more pity on AS that a rare eye cancer..they said cancer you can beat, AS is a life long battle, in a war you cannot win, only hope NOT TO LOSE, and these poor people have their work cut out for them........
i was shamed, saddened, and moved.
I hope I am not being too maudlin honey.....but Drs that give patients the aggressive speech, in my book, that says, it is too much cost , somehow it will have a negative impact upon my practise, it is over my head, or too much trouble, that is what I hear......and it really perturbes me. The American Academy of Rheumatology has some criteria they are supposed to use in the US, differential diagnosis, treatment tree, etc......arm yourself with excellent weapons, are ya near McGill University? They have a kick AS medical team.if I was in Canada, I would go there for something called a consult.
Are you familliar with a consult honey? It is not getting a new dr. It is another dr giving his input to your dr, kind of another set of eyes looking for the lost keys? yes?
Good Drs love consults, because they believe they are right, and they welcome someone else to comfort the patient with a concurrance.
I can probably get you a referral at McGill, I can check into some other places for consults for you if you like. I am retired ophthalmic med technologist, and one of my old bosses is from Canada, still visits a bit too. I will give him a ring if you like sweety.
Sorry bout the soap box, bad information is worse than no information as far as I am concerned.
I am praying for you, a special prayer.......GET THOSE DMARD"S prayer. It worked for me.
Much love to you honey....
Shu
The Slayer, lol a family joke honey, I am not a nut case, well, maybe a little bit......if you ask any of my kids or students they might agrue with that statement.
