pezstar's Journal: Healthy?

I got a call from my doctor at Brigham and Women's a few minutes ago. He wants me to come in tomorrow to discuss some test results. I had a full kidney and liver panels, CBC, the standard anemia stuff and we discussed the arthritis in my fingers, elbows and knees. I asked him what was up, and he said that I have severall indications for a more serious problem and that my kidney issues and the fact that they were sudden onset are something that made him think that something else was going on and maybe my current GI infection was related. He wouldn't go into more detail over the phone, but would tell me that he wanted to do a antinuclear antibody test.

I have absolutely NO idea what he could be testing for.
He asked me a few questions.
-How long have I had arthritis and how often do my joints get swollen? (Not very... A couple of my fingers swell up pretty regularly, but aside from that, my knees and elbows will hurt occasionally.)

-Do I always have problems with my kidneys or do they tend to "flare up"? (They flare up. The flares tend to last a week or so.)

-Do I notice any photosensitivity? (In my eyes, absolutely. If I'm out in the sun where it is too bright, they have literally swollen shut before. As far as my skin goes... I'm scottish, so I'm pale and I burn easily. That's just part of the heritage.) Also, as far as the photosensitivity goes, I got glasses when I was four, and they were the photogrey/transitions lenses, so my eyes were never really exposed to sunlight until I was about 17. I always attributed it to that.

-Am I prone to rashes? (I get hives sometimes for no apparent reason. But I have a lot of allergies.)

That was it. I don't know. I have no idea what he thinks could be wrong with me, but if flareups of swollen joints, my kidneys, photosensitivity and rashes are symptoms, then I've never heard of anything like it. We shall see.