Anatomy of my illness

 Doctor Rosenstock is a nephrologist with a medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He did his residency at Temple University Hospital, fellowship at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center.  He is currently Assistant/Associate Professor at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, specializing in Glomerulonephritis. Glomerulonephritis is a disease in which tiny filters in the kidneys become inflamed impairing blood filtration.  There are many causes for Glomerulonephritis one of which is GPA ANCA Vasculitis, which also infected my lungs causing nodules, which are small growths and crystals reflecting prior bleeding. He began treatment on 6/4/2021 with a biopsy of my kidney which came back positive for ANCA Vasculitis which is not cancer. Next was a slow IV drip of Rituximab, a cancer treatment drug for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma that targets and reduces B cells in the immune system.  The first infusion can take 6 hours.  You are given premedic...

 I have ANCA Vasculitis which is to say I have anti neutrophil cyctoplasmic antibody Vasculitis, a rare autoimmune disease that attacks 5 out of a million people.  Symptoms include runny nose, sinus headaches, shortness of breath, purpura (red and purple bumps on the skin), edema, nosebleeds, and it affects the nervous system causing tingling, aches and pain.  It affects many areas of the body but has the most impact on the lungs and kidneys. Without treatment life expectancy is 5 months.  With treatment about 80% can live 8 years.  The cause is unknown but it is suspected some bacterial and viral infections play a part.  There are three disorders associated with ANCA Vasculitis, granulomatosis with polyangilitis (GPA), microscopic polyangilitis (MPA), and cosinaphilic GPA (EGPA).  I have GPA ANCA Vasculitis. The primary symptom that took me to emergency rooms three times was nosebleeds.  They started without any cause and would not stop.  Th...