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

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Free Market :)

I wanted to add something about last nights post. I am NOT against Free Market but here are my thoughts when it comes to Medications.

What is happening with the Pharma Industry here is NOT actually free Market. The FDA is to blame along with them as they have been monitoring this shortage now for months. They said they are working with the Pharamceutical Companies to speed up production now but they are running out of time. Now they are looking for supplies from other countries. See, I see free Market where we should have had access from other countries medicine for a long time already. 
The FDA is great about talking about safely issues but I could list for example one successful Cancer Medications that have helped children with pain control for over 10 years in Europe but is not being sold here. There is the cream Ron uses for his Shoulder, Voltaren, that you need a prescription here and is very pricey but you can buy it over the counter in South America and Europe for a fraction of the price here. I only mention them because I saw it personally. 
Free Market to me is not something controlled by two parties, Pharma and the FDA. Open the doors and let us decide and I am guessing the moment this happens supplies will come flooding in and finally we would see what real competition looks like for our reigning Pharmaceutical Kingdoms here :) 
Ever heard of Bayer? 
Or the Government does indeed need to take the Generic Drugs that are life saving and have a lab that makes them and therefor controls the supply. Funny that I would say I would trust the Government more then Pharma because then I would hope it was about life not money.

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