Medicine Update

Hello All! I thought you might be interested on how Alllison is doing concerning her medication. We have been weaning her off prednisone and Aleve ( NSAID) over the last month. Below is a list of her current medications:

Daily:
Prednisone 10 mg
Folic Acid
Vitamin
Aleve ( we have completely stopped giving her Aleve since she is not experiencing any pain or swelling. As a result we have been able to stop the tummy medication she was taking because of the irritation the Aleve would cause.)

Friday Nights:
Methotrexate 8 pills
Ondanstron ( for nausea)

Allison will now hold steady at these levels until we go back to see Dr. Kingsbury in mid-September. We are continuing to pray that she will hold her own and keep feeling good now that she is at 10 mg of prednisone daily. Our bodies naturally produce about 10 mg. of cortisone ( natural steroid) daily. So, if she can do well at this level then hopefully when her adrenal glands begin to produce the steroid again she can continue doing well.

Again, thanks so much for your support, positive thoughts and prayers we truly believe that without them Allison and our family would not be doing as well as we are all. We are so blessed to have so many people care about us.

Big News

Many of you may have heard, but we wanted to post our news. John was promoted last week to chief of Albany fire department. We are very proud and excited for him and his new challenges that he will be facing. Jacob is a little bummed that dad will no longer get to drive a "wee-whoo," but I am sure he will adjust. :)

Jan

This is for Jan who posted a comment on the blog. I would love to talk to you further about your situation. Email me at bradner@profirefighter.com.

Leslie

Weather Change

Today we have had much cooler weather and almost constant rain.  Allison is complaining about her right leg feeling "weird."  Actually this morning it was her foot and by lunch her whole leg.  She caught my attention of course.  She says it feels tingly.  I'm not sure what that means but we will keep and eye on her and hope it doesn't develop into anything else.  With the abrupt weather change I just kinda wonder if it could be effecting her a little.  Keep her in your thoughts and prayers that it isn't anything.Publish Post

McKenzie River Rafting Trip

Last Saturday we had a girls day out adventure.  We went with Kenzie, Mayzie and Kristi Smith, and Kristi's mom, Nancy rafting on the McKenzie River.  It was a steaming hot day (100 degrees) and a perfect day to be on the river.  Kristi's mom's church in Eugene sponsored the event.  We had so much fun.  Everyone on the river carries water guns so for a good share of the day we spent having water fights with other boats.  We were ambushed by  river pirates on several occasions and managed to fend them off with our water guns.  Kenzie was our fighter and on a couple of occasions all of us in the boat would be holding up peace signs so other boats wouldn't fire on us  and she would begin squirting them with water and the fight would be on.  Because of the heat it was very enjoyable getting wet and the hot air quickly dried us out.  Allison, Kenzie and Mayzie took turns "riding the bull." Which means riding on the front of the raft with your legs hanging off while going through rapids and trying not to fall off. Our guide was wonderful and full of stories and fun.  Kenzie pushed him off once for spraying her mom ( a little protective I think) and then he just abandoned us another time.  Oh, and I did push Kenzie off one time when she wouldn't quit instigating fights with other boats.  Cooled her off a bit.  :)

We ended the day soaking wet, tired and happy after having a fun filled day.  To top the day off we made a quick stop for chocolate at See's Candy and had dinner out.  We may have to make this an annual event.  But I am thinking the boys may want in on some of the water fights and pirate action next year.  Ahoy Ye' Maties!!!! 

Leslie

Blood Test Results

Last Thursday I went to the drs. office and got a blood test. They said that I need to come in at least every other month to get one. Today we got back the results for my blood test. They were really good. It said that my blood was doing really good. So I might end up growing out of JRA and not having to take medicine that you have to have shots with. That makes me really happy because I really do not want to have medicine that you have to have shots for, and I really would like it if I grew out of JRA. 50% of kids with Systemic JRA grow out of it. I hope that I'm lucky enough to be one of those kids! My mom will include my blood test results later.

This week me and Jacob have been doing Vacation Bible School at our church. It has been really fun! I am in the blue group and Jacob is in the yellow group. Today Jacob brought two friends. They were Mitch and his friend Grady.

I have been riding my bike so many times each day. I probably ride it two hours each day or maybe more. I think that riding my bike is lots of fun. I probably will keep doing it every day for a long time.

That's about it. Thanks for checking in.

Allison

**Key Blood Test Results**
Sed Rate (ESR) 0 (normal 0 to 20) Last blood test on June 11 this was 91.
C-Reactive Protein (CRP) 1 (normal 0 to 4.9) Last blood test this was 125.2.
White Blood Cells (WBC) 9.0 (normal 4.0 to 13.5) Last test this was high.

Keeping our Fingers Crossed

We are keeping our fingers crossed that all is going to continue to go well for Allison. She went in on Thursday to see our local doctor and to have blood work done. We should hear tomorrow (tuesday) the results of the tests. We are anxious to see what those tests will show us on how she is doing with her blood counts. We will be sure to post results to let you know.

Sunday afternoon Allison started not feeling so well. She felt pretty sick to her stomach so we ended up giving her an anti-nausea medication and after sleeping for awhile started feeling better. We are thinking the methotrexate she takes on Friday night must have effected her this week. It hasn't caused her any issues the previous two weeks, so we were a little surprised that it made her feel poorly this week.

Monday morning Allison woke up and complained that her neck was stiff and hurting. Instantly she got my attention. She went ahead and took her normal meds. but I am watching her carefully today. This afternoon it is still bothering her but she said it seems to be improving. I am hoping and praying it is just a kink in the neck from sleeping wrong, but since we dropped her down to 14 mg. of prednisone on Friday I am on alert watching for break through symptoms. So, our plan is to watch her and see if we see anything else develops tonight or tomorrow. If it continues or additional symptoms arise we can up her pred. dose again.

Your prayers for Allison's continued progress in tapering off the prednisone are greatly appreciated.

Leslie "The Mom"

How is Allison Feeling?

That is the question we are getting a lot lately.  Today at church so many loving, caring members of our church family asked about Allison and her status and about our trip to California.  We so appreciate all of you caring so much about our family.  We feel so blessed to have you praying and caring for us.  

Well, Allison is doing great.  She is currently down to 16 mg. of Prednisone  in the morning.  So far she is handling the tapering great.  We have also cut her down to 1 1/2 Aleve pills a day.  She is having no fevers, rashes, swelling or joint pain.  She is actually very active right now.  She went on a long bike ride with our friends, the Smiths, and did wonderful without any residual effects.  She is swimming frequently, taking Banzai (our dog) for walks and much more. Basically, she is doing everything she has always done.  If it wasn't for all the pills she is taking (6-8 each morning and then on Friday evening she takes an additional 9 pills) and the occasional mood swings, she would be just as before.  

We keep crossing our fingers for continued wellness and feeling good for her.  The stress level in our house has dropped tremendously and it is good to feel "back to normal."  Of course, we are still keeping a watchful eye out for signs of breakthrough symptoms as we know we aren't out of the woods yet, but each day that passes that she is continuing to feel great is a blessing and an answer to prayer for us.  

*** Still fighting with the camera, don't give up hope for the vacation pictures.  I promise to try and conquer it early this week.  Computers and camera can just be a pain to make them talk to one another.  :)