Joanne Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 My dd has Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. It's "poly", and moderate to severe. She sees the Nurse Practioner several times a year and the Rheumatologist 1 - 2 times a year. She's on some heavy meds for it. The disease itself is an autimmune disorder and the treatments are immunosuppressents (it's a constant evaluation of risk/benefit). But the Dr. saw her yesterday and she looked great! Her wrists and ankles were terrific and her knees greatly improved! The dr. said that puberty will either have no effect or it will get better (some children outgrow it with the onset of puberty). I can accept "the same" and of course we'd welcome it going away. It's in the "Medical Center", a very busy, confusing and intimidating place in Houston. But once you get into the specialist and past all the uber techno clinical mess, they are responsive, warm and thorough. She was asked to participate in a study of children with JRA who take methotrexate (a chemo agent) to see if the function of methotrexate on the immune system effects a child's ability to respond to vaccinations. Funny, that, when you consider I'm a staunch informed consenter on vaccines and did the selective/delayed thing. She chose to participate, and since she hates, hates, hates needles (and she gets shots 2X a week), I was very proud of her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 My dd has Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. It's "poly", and moderate to severe. She sees the Nurse Practioner several times a year and the Rheumatologist 1 - 2 times a year. She's on some heavy meds for it. The disease itself is an autimmune disorder and the treatments are immunosuppressents (it's a constant evaluation of risk/benefit). But the Dr. saw her yesterday and she looked great! Her wrists and ankles were terrific and her knees greatly improved! The dr. said that puberty will either have no effect or it will get better (some children outgrow it with the onset of puberty). I can accept "the same" and of course we'd welcome it going away. It's in the "Medical Center", a very busy, confusing and intimidating place in Houston. But once you get into the specialist and past all the uber techno clinical mess, they are responsive, warm and thorough. She was asked to participate in a study of children with JRA who take methotrexate (a chemo agent) to see if the function of methotrexate on the immune system effects a child's ability to respond to vaccinations. Funny, that, when you consider I'm a staunch informed consenter on vaccines and did the selective/delayed thing. She chose to participate, and since she hates, hates, hates needles (and she gets shots 2X a week), I was very proud of her. Yay, Joanne! We're switching ds6 off of Enbrel (even though he got a glowing report from his rheumatologist in June) back to methotrexate within the next 2 weeks as well (he was pulled off of it last year do to his neutropenia, which his hematologist thinks is unrelated to the meds now, so we're giving it another whirl since it's got a longer proven safety track record). Here's hoping they both do fabulously :cheers2:! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jugglin'5 Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 I am so glad to hear that Joanne. We have a friend who is on the methotrexate. The couple had been infertile for 5 years, and for some reason when he started the methotrexate for his JRA they were able to conceive! This worried the doctors because they don't know the effects of the drug on the fetus, but the have since had 3 healthy children. His doctor theorizes that it had something to do with the immunosuppresent effect - that either he or she was allergic/rejecting to his sp*rm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Oh wow, I'm so glad she's doing better. I was on the mex for about a year, but then it stopped being effective for me. I've got a different type of arthritis. Does she just feel like she's got a whole new life going? I certainly did! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Glad to hear she is doing better. It's so hard to have a child with a chronic condition. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joanne Posted August 7, 2008 Author Share Posted August 7, 2008 We're switching ds6 off of Enbrel (even though he got a glowing report from his rheumatologist in June) back to methotrexate within the next 2 weeks as well Her JRA is severe enough that she's been on both. (he was pulled off of it last year do to his neutropenia, which his hematologist thinks is unrelated to the meds now, so we're giving it another whirl since it's got a longer proven safety track record). Here's hoping they both do fabulously Did I ever share with you that the 13 year old addtional female student I have has neutropenia? It was a bittersweet moment when she and my dd met and went over their mutual meds. :001_huh::grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate CA Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Joanne, That is wonderful news! The whole disease must be very unnerving to you as well as your daughter. What a brave girl she sounds like! Rejoicing with you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepy Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 That's great to hear! Such a brave girl, that's a lot for an 11yo to handle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrianne Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 :hurray: I am glad to hear she is doing better! Three cheers for modern medicine!:cheers2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*anj* Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 I missed seeing this yesterday. That's great news, Joanne! I'm really glad that she's doing so well. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted August 10, 2008 Share Posted August 10, 2008 That's great news!!! I'm glad you had some good news this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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