July and October Updates

So happy with our good news!

July Update
We have seen Dr. Johnson and Dr. Leenheer twice since I have last updated. We saw them in July and everything  from her arthritis to her eyes were looking very good.

At Dr. Johnson's, he left Madison's Methotrexate dosage the same, which was good news because he did not have to adjust it to her weight. We were super excited about that because that meant our Princess was keeping strong! Along with seeing Dr. Johnson, Madison has to get blood drawn every time to make sure her medication is not affecting her kidneys or liver. This is always hard on Madison, but she always seems to toughen up and pull through.

When we went to go see Dr. Leenheer, it had been one year since the dilated her eyes, so it was time to do that again. Madison was not a happy camper, but she did amazing. She was able to correctly label all of the images set before her to show she has perfect vision and more importantly that there was no signs of uveitis. For those of you who do not know, uveitis is inflammation of the eyes due to JRA. It is more common in young girls with monoarticular arthritis than any other form of arthritis. Since this is the category Madison falls in, we have to be super careful with her eyes and make sure we get them checked every 3 months along with her rheumatologist appointments. Madison will see Dr. Leenheer again on Thursday, so keep your fingers crossed for good news!

October Update
We saw Dr. Johnson this past Monday and we got some good and bad news. I will start off with the bad news first. When we went in, he said that he was going to up Madison's dose due to the different method we are going to try and that she is getting bigger so she needs something that is equivalent to her weight. On the other hand, Dr. Johnson said that after she reaches a certain weight, he will consider backing off a little bit and see how she does with less and less medication.

Now for the good news! We spoke with Dr. Johnson about Madison's anxiety with her injection every Saturday and he agreed that it was not good for her mental state of mind. He suggested that we try giving Madison her Methotrexate orally. She will not be taking the pills, but instead she will take her injectable medicine orally. We do not know what the side effects will be yet, but we are hoping there are none. Even if there is, we have to weigh the positive and negatives of each method and see which one works best for her to keep her as healthy and happy as possible.

Thank you guys for reading about our journey. It seems like these appointments just come and go and before we know it we are preparing for the next one! With that being said, the Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis is fast approaching and we would love to have your support. Just click the link above or at the right side of the page and it will take you to our team page so you can make a monetary donation or join our team. We had such a wonderful time last year and we are hoping to make this year as successful as last. We can't do it without you, so please consider joining us, we would LOVE to have you!