going the distance ~ A story of Dercums

I suppose I thought my grandmothers ailments were all simply part of the process of aging and various unrelated conditions .  However, now, because of my own diagnosis (approx 13 yrs ago with Dercum's) combined with the knowledge I've gathered since...  & in light of the familial link... I am convinced by the similarities of our health, when I talk with Meemaw about her medical history and symptoms ... that she must have it too!

That's part of strangeness of  Dercum's; it encompasses a vast array of conditions.  Nasty things, besides the painful lipomas (the ones that aren't supposed to hurt), displaying symptoms like IBS, Fibromyalgia, deep arthritic & nerve pain.  Inflammation discomforts with flare ups that make your bones ache and your fat hurts you all over.  Weakness and sleep disturbances are common so it seems. But, wait there's more.... the hits just keep coming ...I won't bore you with the rest of the details right now except to say that no matter what the complication might be ~ it causes pain disproportionate  (in comparison to others with similar difficulties in absence of this rare condition).

So with all that being said imagine you're a doctor whose patient comes to you on a regular basis with some new mysterious complaint seemingly unrelated to other symptoms or condition.   You may think this person is a hypochondriac , or a drug seeker because it couldn't possibly be as bad as they are describing nor as diverse as they are trying to explain.

Armed with all that medical knowledge when you hear those hooves approaching do you look for a horse or a zebra?  More than likely you address the issue conservatively and make a referral.

Where does that leave .. the zebra?
Feeling like maybe they're a little crazy ..