After the fevers we called the doctor on Monday because the Naproxen was not helping anymore, and I was concerned about the fevers. He called back and said we could try Meloxicam which is a different anti inflammatory. Around Thursday the Meloxicam wasn't working very well either so I called Friday morning to find out if there was anything else for him, as he was miserable. The pediatrician called back at 5pm on Friday and said he spoke with the rheumatologist and she wanted us to race to the lab and get more bloodwork done before they closed at 6pm. She was concerned it could be something else due to the quick progression of pain and symptoms. We got that done and the pediatrician called Saturday morning to tell us the viruses they tested him for would not be back until next week but some of the more serious things came back negative. His inflammatory marker had gone down but his other one had shot up pretty high. He was ok with waiting until Tuesday when we had the appointment with the rheumatologist, and to just keep the Naproxen and Tylenol going.
Monday Ollie seemed a little better and Tuesday he was doing better than we had seen since the start. We arrived at Children's Hospital and went into our appointment. Basically, the doctor saw him running around the exam room, playing, being silly with seemingly no swelling in his knee. We were pretty shocked but happy for the sudden healing. Because he was doing so well her thought was that it could be getting better and this was the tail end of some kind of Reactive Arthritis (when your body responds to some kind of known or unknown virus by inflaming the joints but goes away after 5-6 weeks), She wanted us to wait one more week, to make it a full 6 weeks since the start of these symptoms, and then take him completely off the Naproxen and see if it comes back or not. That week leading up to us stopping was so great! He was running and playing and the happiest we've seen him in a long time. We were so excited that this might mean he just had reactive arthritis.
Monday morning we gave him his last dose of Naproxen. Tuesday he did great! Wednesday he was a tad stiff but still happy and not limping or swollen. When he woke up from his nap he was limping lightly but we were hoping this might be the residual from the reactive arthritis? Thursday morning he was doing great again and after nap time he was ok until about 4:30 when the limping started again, so i called rheumatology. I talked to the rheumatology nurse who spoke with Dr. Moore (Oliver's rheumatologist) and she said lets watch him over the weekend, keeping a journal of when and how bad he gets because she also thought maybe he's either on the tail end or it is coming back. Today he was limping and fussy in the morning and it was off and on until nap time. When he woke up it was swollen and he was limping really bad again. She said not to give him the Naproxen unless he has two really bad days.
To be completely honest I really thought this would fizzle out and be over. Though deep inside me I heard God's voice telling me not to let it go. Its frustrating and upsetting. We've gotten so used to him limping and being fussy that a friend of mine actually had to remind me that limping is NOT normal. Especially in a one year old. Thinking now that this really could be a chronic disease that he has to deal with, and the yucky treatments is overwhelming and makes me mad. I haven't been mad at all until the last few days. Just extremely emotional.
I know you all know I am a Christian, and have a deep and meaningful personal relationship with God. I am mad that in this world there is pain and sickness and sin. But STILL God is my God and my strength through this. He created the universe and the tiny atoms that make it, and everything up. He created Oliver and knows him better than we ever will and loves Him more than Danny and I could ever love him. My trust is in Him. To have a foundation that I know I can stand on, or, when I need to fall down onto, I can and He will never leave is so comforting. Please battle with us in prayer for Oliver!
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