Appts.....Appts.....Appts

So I thought I would write down what we have been doing this last week with Nick. Appointments!!! (4 in the last week!!) Once Nick started tapering off the steroids, he felt worse. He lost his appetite which was the best thing he had going, so we called the Dr's office to come up with some plan. They told us to see a hematologist for his low white count and they scheduled a MRCP for Friday (which is like an MRI of the abdomen).
Thursday we saw the hematologist (who I absolutely LOVE) and he was a little confused on why we were there. His white count had gone back up (3.0)! He explained that he is not surprised that all of Nick's blood cell counts are low because when the liver is inflamed all of the blood gets stuck there so blood that comes from the arm has generally lower results (makes sense to me). Then, he gave us two Dr's names at the University of Utah that specialize more in liver disease. We called. Next appt was May 29!
Friday was his MRCP--it was done in 35 minutes. The results came back normal (no blockage in his biliary ducts).
Tuesday we went into the original gastroenterologist who decided that he probably had Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC). Nick's liver biopsy showed that he had biliary duct scarring, BUT his AMA (antibody) test was negative so it leaves a 10% chance that it could be something else!! UGH! So he wanted us to get a second opinion at the U (the Dr he mentioned was the same one we had an appt with but they thought they could get us in sooner). The gastroenterologist also gave Nick some different medication that should help his biliary duct process bile better. I don't know that this will make a huge difference.
On Wednesday, we had another appt with a Dr at St. Mark's Hospital who had been referred to us by one of Nick's coworkers (the coworkers mother had biliary duct cancer and she loved this Dr). So, we met with him, but he does more surgical work on the abdomen so since Nick doesn't have any growths or tumors, he really couldn't do much for us. But he did tell us that we should see this Dr at the U (yes, the same one that the other two Dr's referred us to). So, the next step? We have an appt on Tuesday with Dr Box (the gastroenterologist who specializes in liver disease). I am really looking forward to this appt, because he sounds like the best guy to go to in weird liver cases. I am also looking forward to not having a Dr appt for 5 days!! I hope all of this made sense. I was starting to confuse myself!!