Slowing Down...

As you can tell from the dates of my posts, things are slowing down...with JRA. And we couldn't be happier! We are at a different place now than we were a year ago - physically for Mia; emotionally for us. We are stronger. We have come through a very difficult time for our family. And, we are very, very blessed!

Mia is still on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet. We have added eggs back into her diet (this past July), to which her body doesn't seem to mind. And it makes it MUCH easier for me when it comes to baking and cooking for Mia.

She is still seeing a physical therapist, but only once a month now. She still takes 7.5 mls of naproxen twice a day and 1 tsp. of cod liver oil every morning to help keep her joints loose and keep the inflammation down. In December at her next rheumy appointment, we are hoping Dr. Lopez will say we can start weaning her off of the naproxen. And then we will start adding things back into her diet to see what causes a flare.

Here is an update to give you an idea of how much better Mia is doing:

Comparison of last year to now...starting from head to toe:

• Last year: her elbow was bent at -8 degrees. She would cry or pull away from you if you tried to straighten it.
• Now! Her elbow is almost straight. On her worst day, it is bent at -3 degrees.
  
  
• Last year: her knee was bent at -20 degrees and was as big as a tennis ball. She was dragging her leg and limping all of the time. She could not run, jump and could hardly keep up when walking. People were constantly asking me if she injured her leg or if she fell. It was awful!!
  
• Now! She will be finishing her very first ballet class this Saturday. I almost cried during her very first class...it was hard to hold back the tears. I was SO PROUD!! She can run, jump and dance without any difficulty. She has minimal fluid on her knee, but she does have a boney overgrowth of cartilage on the inside of her knee that has developed from the arthritis. She still can't hyper extend her leg (get her heel off of the ground) when she is sitting down and it is straight out in front of her, but we know that will come in time. She is starting to alternate legs when going up the stairs. We are still working on helping her to get over her fear of going on the climbers at the park, but know she will eventually conquer her fear and not feel like she has to be cautious to protect her joints.
  
  
• Last year: At her initial diagnosis, they said that her ankle had some swelling and fluid on it. One month later, her rheumy said her ankle was fine. :)
• Now! Her ankle is still fine...still no swelling (nor will there be any!)
  
  
• Last year: Her big toe on her right foot was swollen and very large, along with her second toe on her left foot. This is the first thing that alerted us that there was a problem when she was 15 months old.
• Now! Her other toes seem to be catching up to her big toe and it seems to be getting smaller.

Overall, she is doing great!! She is much more active than she was a year ago. It is great to see her so happy. We look back on this past year and are so proud of the things she has overcome. She had to endure a lot, especially in the beginning, and came through it with flying colors. She is looking forward to sledding and building snowmen this winter...what every normal, healthy child enjoys doing. She is tackling life head on, full throttle - leaving JRA in the dust!