Our Journey thru JDM and Life!: A much brighter day :)

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)-

Thursday, August 9, 2012

A much brighter day :)

What a difference a day can make!

Today I woke up to two smiling faces on our living room sofa. Connor and Alexander were both sitting next to each other in their full Samurai Costume Outfits. I asked how Connor got dressed and upstairs and they told me with those huge grins on their faces that Alexander helped Connor get dressed and then helped him 'walk' upstairs. The conversation went on with them telling me that Connor 'only' fell down twice but that Alexander helped him up each time!

Now here i had two boys who were so proud of each other and then there was me who had all kinds of images in her head of them both toppling down the stairs! I told them how proud I was of them but to never mind getting me so I can help in the mornings as this is one joy a Mom has to look after her 'babies' each morning! I so hope they got the message to not repeat this again!

However, this was not the end of the surprises for the day. Connor was very active today and walking around for most of today. He was in very good spirits and in a happy mood, as was everyone else.
So you see, never underestimate the power of thoughts and prayers from family and Friends, included one night of sleep.

Thank you again!!!