A Big Test

I took a pretty important test today (and no, it was not a pregnancy test, because I know that's where all of your minds just went.) It was a JC Virus Antibody test. If you remember my post from a couple of months ago where I talked about some changes I was making because of my Crohn's Disease, I mentioned there was this new medication that my doctor wanted me to consider, but it's got some pretty bad side effects. Well, essentially, this test will tell me whether or not I have to worry about those side effects. My doctor told me before that you've got about a 50/50 chance of having it.

If it comes back negative, the odds of these side effects drop to almost zero. But if it comes back positive, the odds go way high and basically takes this new medication off the table. I've been on my current medication for about 2 1/2 years now, and it has never really made that big of an improvement in my life. I mean I'm stable and it's kept things at a tolerable state, but I'm looking for some options that can make a big difference. This new medication may be one of those options.

My doctor told me this test just got approved by the FDA in the U.S. and just got the approval needed from the UNC Hospital system like today. So I'm the first one there to have this test done. Don't worry, it was nothing fancy. All they did was take some blood, so it wasn't some weird test I actually had to do anything for.

But now I have to wait. Of course they weren't sure exactly how long since I'm the first one to have it done, but he thought about a week or so. I've been praying all day that this will open up some doors for me. I'll be sure to post an update when I know more. But for now... we'll just keep praying.