Update on Roger

Here I am, sitting at Seattle Children's Hospital, while Roger is sitting in a little "taxi" car for kids, and watching Toy Story. It wasn't in the plan to spend a few days here, but when we went to his initial appointment on Tuesday, we got the official diagnosis that he has polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis. We have been giving him Motrin three times a day for the past month, to which he responded very well, but stopped giving it to him on Sunday, in anticipation for his doctor appointment on Tuesday. By the time he had his appointment, his level of activity decreased dramatically, and he wanted to constantly be held. He was cranky and in pain. The doctor saw right away that most of his joints were inflamed: fingers, hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, toes, ankles, and knees. They said that he needed three doses of steroids to try to get the swelling down. Each dose is given 18 hours apart. They let us go home to make arrangements, get clothes, etc. We checked in at 10:00 p.m. Tuesday night and he got his IV at 3:00a.m. The next day he got x-rays and labs, and he got his first dose of steroids at 5:00 p.m. He fell asleep during the injection, and didn't wake up until the next morning. After the first dose I could see an improvement. His knuckles on his hands didn't look as swollen. He got his 2nd dose at 11:00 a.m. today, and the doctor said he is doing so well, they will probably send us home this evening without getting the third dose. He'll be on steroids for a couple of months, and receive a shot once a week for an indefinite amount of time. His response to the treatments has been very positive, and I am hopeful that we will be able to keep his JIA under control. I am a different story, though. I had to go down to Lakewood yesterday for a doctor appointment with my rheumatologist, and he told me that I have localized schleroderma, which is causing my Raynaud's phenomenon. I don't know much about it, and really haven't had time to research it, either. I'm afraid that I might need to get a barium swallow in the future, which I do not look forward to. The biggest hurdle we have right now is trying to get our orders to move to the UK. Now that Roger and I both will have exceptional family medical plans (EFMP), this may delay our move a little. We're doing whatever we can to keep the ball rolling.