Mel

Not too long ago, I had an ANA elisa, which is a very basic test to see if you have an autoimmune condition. ANA elisa's have a low false positive rate, yet, they are very unspecific. Mine came back 2.37 and high was .09. I have never ever had any autoimmune test come back abnormal, so I thought, ahaaaaaaa, now we have the reason for my PN.

They did another battery of autoimmune tests, and low and behold, everything was as normal as could be.

The lesson is, you can't take just one test, out of context and worry about it or draw much of a conclusion about it, especially if it is one of the basic tests that is simply monitoring the ebb and flow of our body in its attempt to maintain homeostasis. As organisms we are constantly changing, every second something is adapting to change in our bodies, or we would be dead. It is so immensely complex that medicine has only a basic idea of what is going on, despite it seeming so complex and scientific to us....medicine knows only the tip of the iceberg...especially in neurology.

Medicine isn't as much science as we would like to believe. There is a lot of subjectivity in tests. Some labs even have different ranges for normal. What is best is to look for trends over time.

You had a bad experience with a nurse in the home care aspect, however, most medical people are very good and dedicated to doing their jobs. They are overworked, no doubt, and waiting your turn in line is tough.

I think most of us have had some pretty good care over all, and have had the good fortune of getting to clinics and tertiary medical centers that have the best there is to offer.

You had one unethical or dumb nurse. Don't worry that every one in the system is that way.