Our Journey thru JDM and Life!: Catching Up and School Time....

Timeline from first symptom to diagnosis

Our son Connor was diagnosed with JDM in January of 2010 and here is a bit of a timeline to show you how this diagnosis was reached...

Towards the end of November 2009, Connor mentioned some pain in his right foot. We found a Plantar Wart and began treating it. We went on vacation in Germany were he mentioned a pain in his knee's, to feeling in his own words, pain 'inside his legs'. By the time we got home on December 9, he needed to be carried almost everywhere. By the end of December he was unable to feed himself, dress himself, sit up or down, lay down and of course walk. Here is a list of tests he went through between December 10 to December 28, 2009

X-ray of his Hips

MRI of his spine

X-ray of his chest

CAT Scan of his brain

CAT Scan of his chest

MRI of his chest

MRI of his hips

Numerous Blood Work

Spinal Tap

and we finished with a Muscle Biopsy

There were many speculations of what might be causing Connor so much pain and one of them was Gullian Barre Syndrom (GBS) due to his first symptoms showing up within a few days of his H1N1 Flu Shot.

The final Diagnosis came on January 11, 2010

-Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM)-

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Catching Up and School Time....

I was thinking today would be a calm day at home but it has been very busy so far. For one we are trying to catch up on School which is easy with Connor since he loves everything about school but is a bit more challenging with Alexander who rather plays outside with Apple and Tasha or build Lego's inside.

I was able to hold his attention very well for our Art Project this morning which included making a Sculpture. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that I have a strong feeling that my boys calling is in arts. They love painting, singing, dancing, acting and now they have been sculpting all morning.

We watched some Sculptures from Michelangelo, Claes Oldenburg and Freeman Loughridge, Jr. and Connor was mostly taken by Michelangelo and Alexander loved the fact that Freeman Loughridge, Jr. made all his Sculptures from Junk :)

Now even thought Alexander tries to get out of Math, Reading and Writing he does in fact do really well at math and loves to point out Sentences and Fragments when I read to him.

Then I am also trying to get everything in order so the boys can get new passports. I am still annoyed that I missed the fact that their passports expired in April! Our boys have been owning a passport since age one and we had all summer to get new ones and I just missed the boat completely on this one. I hope we can get them back and still be able to have a chance for a Disney Cruise. Connor has been talking about going to see a beach and Pirates for so long now ... of course knowing our boys they will be happy with any trip that comes their way :)

Tonight I am also going to battle against time and hope that my magic with beating the clock will work so I can get my sister on a plane to the USA in front of 5 other D3's. The flight is FULL and I so don't want to loose out on a good position for her.

On a really good note Ron is coming home tonight and we will have him home with us for two days before he heads out again for Anchorage, Alaska. His flight is delayed so the boys will be sad to find out they miss out on the traditional Taco Bell Dinner and I have to come up with something that resembles Mexican Fast Food :)

To end my Blog today I want as always 'Thank You' for Voting!

Hugs,

R A C A