Medical Things Update

The doctors have run all tests and they can not do anything more for Josie, except control with pain medicine. They said they can't fix something that is not there. The HLA-B27 Antigen was detected in her blood work. This means she may develop arthritis or may not. Some people with this factor develop it and some don't, and even those without it can develop some form of arthritis. It could be in 5 or 10 years or later, they don't know. So there is something going on with her bones but not enough to do anything about right now. SO FRUSTRATING!!!!!!

Tim has an arthritis condition that is hereditary. He does HLA-B27 in his blood too. He has Ankylosing Spondylitis. His spine is slowing fusing. He has limited movement in his neck and back. It is not curable but treatable. It was finally diagnosed after 10 years. It started when he was 20. The doctors said that it may not not show up in tests or x-rays for the first years of pain starting. That is what happened to Tim. They did not confirm this with Josie but it is a possibility, because some people with the antigen in their blood never develop anything.

I have been keeping a journal of Josie's activities and when the pain starts and if she needs pain medicine or not. There is really no consistency at all. I am just letting her be a kid and if any pain starts she needs to tell me. Sometimes she waits till it is to hard to deal with and that makes for a miserable Josie and me. Her and I don't like the way the pain medicine makes her get more frustrated easier and has a lack of concentration. But it really does help the pain. We try heating pads first or cold pack and lots of resting before we use the pain medicine.

Makenzye still has pain in her leg but walks a lot and swims which helps her control it with over the counter pain medicine. I am looking into if she has had her blood work done to check for HLA-B27 Antigen.

Savannah now has been diagnosed with high Thyroid count. It has been slowing getting higher over the 1 1/2 years. So we now test every six months to keep it in check. No medication is needed for her at this time...but the doctor thinks she will eventually need it as she gets older. The condition is called Hyperthyroidism. Again, another case of waiting because she does not have it yet but heading there!!! It is also hereditary and I have a cousin who had it. I have had my thyroid removed when I was pregnant with Addison 15 years ago. I am on the medication Savannah will eventually have to take. But my thyroid was functioning properly, they found a malignant tumor on it and it had to be removed.