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)-

Hope

Hope

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

IVIG # 11, Nov 23, 2010

Today the boys and I are being probably the most adventures we have been since JDM entered our life. The three of us think of it as adventures but truly it might be just crazy then anything else - haha

For one, today is Connor's Infusion Day and so far he had his Port accessed, his blood drawn and the Solumedrol Infusion behind him. We started on the IVIG about 30 minutes ago and with any luck we hope to be done in about 5 hours. This is when instead of me driving home two very tired boys we will be heading to the Airport to try and catch a flight to Dallas/Ft. Worth. This by itself will be interesting but to attempt this during one of the most busy travel season of the year will be the reason it might be an adventure :) So far all the flights are slowly turning red, which means oversold plus Standbys, but the boys and I are used to this so we will get to the Airport, sit back and watch what happens.

When I wrote the title for this blog entry today I thought how it sounds as if Connor just had 11 Infusions when in all honesty I never counted all the Solumedrol and Methrotrexate Infusions he has received. For almost 8 weeks he had them daily, then for a while three times a week, down to two, once a week, every two weeks, every three weeks and now every four weeks. Now this might change again but I will know more once I talk to Dr. Soep.
One of the many things we were told at NIH was the fact that Connor in the Research Teams eyes was a severe case initially but that he has made the most progress of any child they met that started out in the same spectrum as he did with JDM. This of course gave us huge hope that Connor will be the one sailing into remission but we were warned that we are entering the most critical time right now and this is to balance his treatments with slowly trying to reduce some medication. Dr. Rider told us that our focus as parents needs to be being very patient and to not rush it but to move cautiously and slow.

So wishing all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving week and Holiday and I will do my best to honor it as well and not call Thanksgiving a 'speed bump' on my way to Christmas anymore - haha.

Hugs,

R A C A


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