TAB on wednesday

[Boozsa]

Hope everyone has a Happy New Years! Asking for good vibes my way, finally having a TAB on Wednesday. It’s not that I want to have PMR/GCA I just need an answer after all this. Cheers to good health for 2019!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Good luck, but you should be aware that a TAB doesn’t always give you a definitive answer. If it comes back as positive then you do have GCA, but a negative result doesn’t necessarily mean you are in the clear. Unfortunately if there is no sign of enlarged cells in the sample it doesn’t mean they aren’t in other blood vessels. My temporal artery was never enlarged nor painful - but I most certainly had GCA.

[Boozsa in reply to DorsetLady]

Thank you and I know about the risks. My temporal artery has definitely been enlarged and sensitive and painful, I’m just hoping for the best. I just want the chance to feel better

[Devonspinner]

Not sure what TAB means. We have 4 children (all grown up now) and he used to say TABS at many times except that he meant There's always bl**dy something! xx

[Patience47 in reply to Devonspinner]

Temporal Artery Biopsy = TAB

[Hidden]

Best of luck!

[SnazzyD]

I’ll echo DL, not wanting to rain on the party, but to avoid your expectations being too high. PMR/GCA are mostly diagnosed with an educated guess. If it’s positive it really is but a negative means nothing; if the history looks plausible they need to treat. Being on Pred first also makes a negative result more likely. Symptoms wise I had the works and it was still negative but they treated me the same anyway. The one thing a positive would have done for me was put off the medical twerps who would sit back in their chair looking smug and say they think I’ve never had it, safe in the knowledge they’ll never be disproved.

[Jackoh]

All the very best Boozsa. Let us know how you get on xx

[Grants148]

Best wishes Boozsa,l hope your new year will be a good one,and that everything goes well for you regarding the TAB.please let us know how you get on .

[Boozsa]

Thank you everyone. I will let you all know how it turns out.

[Boozsa]

TAB is done and it went well. I was out under general anesthesia so just a little groggy and nauseous. Now just a waiting game.

[Boozsa]

So nervous waiting for the TAB results, can't sleep plus my neck and shoulders are hurting so bad. The surgeon took a 2 cm section at the hairline above my ear so I'm hoping this will be a good sample. I had a colonoscopy last October and they said I was fine until the biopsy came back and I had inflammation in my colon lining. I'm hoping this is a sign that just because my labs aren't elevated a positive biopsy of the temporal artery is possible. My symptoms are so textbook I just haven't had elevated labs and I can't image what else this would be. So nervous just needed to voice it! I just don't want a false negative to put me back to square one, I feel like I would never be treated with a negative TAB because I've had such a hard time just getting to this point. My labs and age (44) have been a huge roadblock so the biopsy is very important. Staying positive! positive positive...