Another doctor's appt.....

Today had my last scheduled doctor's apt and am so glad to have a break or at least I hope it is....  Today was the liver doctor to get established with one at KU Med center. I was really surprised that I got an appointment with the doctor I requested because it turns out he is the head of the liver research dept and only sees patients one afternoon a week...Helps to drop the name of the head of the kidney/liver transplant dept that my doctor in Tucson gave me..  This guy today was amazing!  He is so brilliant and yet talked to me at my level. I commented to his nurse about him after he left and she said he is unusual in his communication skills. I was also impressed that he was only 10 minutes after appointment time, I didn't see residents first and he looked at my file BEFORE he came in to see me so knew I have been going through a lot of testing. He had a copy of what my liver doctor in Tucson gave me for the doctor here but commented that he wished he had the results of a particular lab test for auto-immune hepatitis.  I said "just a minute" while I started looking in my notebook and pulled it out for him along with some other liver tests. Yep, he was impressed!!!!  So....they did some labs to get new levels and some for some things that usually aren't tested for, I continue on with my immune-suppressant med, see him again in 6 months, have labs done at least every 6 months and at 1 year we will decide on options. In a year, it will be about 18 months since the initial diagnosis. The protocol is to try going off the medicine after 2 years if there have not been flare-ups and about 60% of people are  o.k. However, he recommends a liver biopsy before we do that.  If there is liver scaring or cirrhosis due to the hepatitis then it may not be the smartest thing to go off the medicine because of the increased risk. Makes total sense to me.....  My blood pressure was high again today.  I was hoping it was due to the immune-suppresent med I'm taking since it can cause high blood pressure but he said I'm not on a strong enough dosage to cause it - probably either white coat syndrome or due to the heart issues - heart most likely since white coat has never bothered me in the past. At this point, I am just relieved to be through with doctor's appts. I have been down there every week this month for either tests or to see a doctor!