In like a lion, out like a lamb?

Snow Angels

Dear family and friends,

The girls had a wonderful Christmas. It was made extra special by being a white Christmas! Santa was very good to them, although, sometimes they really "test" Santa. <Grrr...> The girls were particularly sad that "Christmas is over" and did not like it when mommy had to take down the tree. We still listen to Christmas music though. Why not, it's kid-friendly and I never worry about anything bad being said!

That said, we've had a little bit of a rocky start to our new year. Lucianna had her routine eye appointment this morning. Unfortunately, it was discovered that her right eye has inflammation back. (I was sort of expecting to hear this since her eyes have shown some intermittent redness and cloudiness since her last appt.) Nonetheless, it was disappointing to hear. We knew that there is always a chance of a relapse with both the JRA and Uveitis. Doctors are unable to really tell a parent what to expect since both these illnesses manifest themselves differently in every child. However, doctors do prepare you by saying, "things can change at any time for any reason". We JRA families are desperate for a clear picture of what to expect as we struggle for remission and jump these hurdles.

We are now back on Pred Forte drops for the right eye, 4 times a day and back on the nightly dilating drops. The left eye is still on an every other day dose and is still "quiet".

Along with the Zantac and Naproxen that we administer three times a day, her Rheumatologist agrees with the ophthalmologists' recommendation that an increase in the Methotrexate will help her. So tomorrow night, we move from 0.3mls to 0.4mls. Now of course, Mommy is a bit nervous since more MTX can mean more chance for some side effects, but we will cross that bridge IF it comes. I am just going to keep a watchful eye over her and try to identify anything out of the ordinary. Our next Rheumatologist appt is Thursday, January 10th. The Rheumatologist called me today to tell us that he still wants to see her despite her change condition. (Before, he wanted to only see her when we got the eyes quiet.) So Lucianna will have some blood work either tomorrow or Monday, (that's loads of fun, but I make Daddy do it).  The blood work is to make sure that her liver and other tests all check out ok. We're hoping for good news.

As always, we're taking it one step at a time. A bumpy start to the new year, but maybe that means "out like a lamb"???

Wishing you all a wonderful, and HEALTHY new year!

Love,
Lucianna's Mommy