My little sister has been sent to U of M (university of michigan) for a ton of tests and more care than her doctor can provide for her at home.

Her primary (hereditary) hemochromatosis is getting worse, instead of better and she’s having some severe complications due to it.

She’s having for her CAT scan this weekend.

She’s developing encephalitis (brain swelling), which is giving her severe mental confusion, migraines, eye swelling/inflammation.

She been having fainting spells, weakness, extreme fatigue.

She’s being tested for rheumatoid arthritis, due to the joint pain and swelling the excess iron in her tissues is causing.

She’s been having esophageal bleeding (and in her stomach), as well as severe abdominal pains.

Her liver is inflamed and they are checking it for cirriosis (which can be caused by the excess iron - the liver stores iron).

She’s developing high blood sugar - due to the build up of iron in her pancreas.

She’s bruising very easily and cuts/nosebleeds take a very long time to clot.

They are taking her off the injected steroids so her test results won’t be skewed by it, but they are the only thing keeping her pain lessened and the swelling down.

I can’t really imagine the pain she is going through right now, though my Graves’ pains and many other symptoms seem to be eerily similar to what she’s going through…  I wonder if there is a connection?  I know that hemochromatosis can affect the thyroid as well.  I’ll have to convince the doctor to order me the necessary ferritin tests.

Mom said something about Factor 4, but as she didn’t understand what it was, she had a hard time making any sense to me about it.

I’ll be researching that this evening when I get home from work.  I have questions I want to ask my doctor about this whole thing.  I’m very worried about my baby sister, as she’s been my best friend for 30 years.  She also just got re-married a couple months ago and has a 9 year old son that’s afraid mommy is going to die.

Sis did say something good came out of this ( so far ):  Her leg, armpit and facial hair have fallen out and stopped growing, so she doesn’t have to shave/wax/nair/tweeze anymore LOL