Bri's checkup with her Rheumatologist

Wednesday April 29, 2009 Bri's Rheum Appt.
Bri has been doing wonderful! Her ankles aern't swollen, we can rotate them, her knees are still just fine, her left big toe is a little swollen, but Bri is running she isn't putting weight on just her heal anymore and her middle fingers are a little swollen still! She has now been on the Methotrexate injections for 10 weeks. So with both the Methotrexate and the Naproxen Eric and I have seen a dramatic difference in her joints as far as the swelling goes and her movement! She is climbing, running, and back to a normal childhood state! Eric and I are sooo happy!! What a complete change! So...11:00 Dr. appt again with her rheum and he looks at her joints and notices what we have, that her movement in her ankles and her left elbow are pretty good, and even though her toe and middle fingers are still swollen-she can still bend them at least into a fist and curl her toe. She has warmed up to her Doctor finally, and doesn't mind getting on the scale or walking around the room so he can observe how she is walking. Bri actually sat still while he felt all of her joints! So we are glad she is feeling comfortable now-all the poking and bending she's getting use to it :). So her rheum said that in the next 30 days if the swelling in her toe and fingers doesn't go down that he wants to think about ANOTHER med for her. This time it would be another injectable med called Enbrel! And of course here he goes with the side effects: blood problems, heart failure, Tuberculosis, nervous system problems such as MS, seizures, or inflammation of the nerves of the eyes, Lymphoma, lupus like syndrome. Oh are you kidding me?? Seriously!?? Sitting there was like watching those commercials on tv that I am just absolutely sickened by..."side effects might be, blindness, you will die, heart attack, cancer" blah blah blah! So what is the advantage? I was so angry and upset! Here Eric and I are thinking she is doing great and we are told that in 30 days this is the next step? Hmmm... I DON'T THINK SO! So tonight I am going to a group talk with a chiropractor with my moms group...maybe he can answer some questions! But Eric and I were just...extremely upset with what he said! There is no way we are going to put another drug into Bri's body! It's bad enough that she has to have any drugs going into her...yet alone 3???!! So at the meeting I learned that dairy causes inflammation! Really? I can honestly say I did not know it caused INFLAMMATION?? So like another mom said..."i have to give her milk cuz milk is good for you right?" (she was talking about her child who has a runny nose, ear infections all the time etc) he said try rice milk and named a few others! Again, dairy products should be avoided! So I bought Bri rice milk (my mother had this too haha). And she loved eating mac and cheese, grilled cheese...she loves cheese! I also just read Jenny McCarthy's book "Mother Warriors" Great book! So-why not try it! We'll see! It's not going to hurt her! So she is taking rice milk, and I have loaded up on Salmon, Tilapia, and rice for her to eat along with apples. She isn't crazy about bananas or fruit, but we are getting there! It's worth a try! I will keep you updated on her condition :)! And I am very hopeful that with a diet change we will see improvement!