Post Drain & Injection...and Increased Meds

Just a quick update on Mia since her procedure yesterday...

Everything went as expected. The doctor put her to sleep first before giving her an IV (smart doc!) and Mia was in and out within an hour. She was very groggy yesterday from being sedated, so she spent most of the day resting on the couch. By the evening, she had a temp of 100.2, but after giving her tylenol, it went down. 

We are still waiting for her foot and toe to go back down. As we've learned from past experiences, it takes some time...

 (morning after procedure, 9/21/12)

 (morning after procedure, 9/21/12)

Looks like some kind of infection on her toenail, doesn't it? Her toe's joint was so swollen that it started pulling the skin back and away from her nail. And, the nail started growing in kinda funky. 

She still has a good amount of joint pain and has been complaining of pain in her heel. Her rheumatologist called this morning to check on her and increased her med (Indocin) from 9mls a day to 12mls, making that 6mls in the morning and 6mls before bed, to ease her pain until we meet with her in a few weeks to discuss next steps for Mia. She said if the Indocin alone is not helping with the pain, we can alternate with Tylenol, as well. While that is fine and all, I am starting to get that feeling that, just like her previous medicines (Naproxen and Ibuprofen), Indocin is no longer working for her. Since March she's had five flares in five different joints. That's a lot in just a few months.

Next month marks five years since she was diagnosed with JRA. Can't believe it has been five years already. Seems just like yesterday we were making trips to see all sorts of specialists to figure out why our daughter's joints were so swollen. Five years. Wow.

In the meantime, Mia is resting as much as possible, doing lots of reading (her fave pastime), catching up on homework and enjoying some of her favorite movies - Eloise at The Plaza, Mary Poppins and A Charlie Brown Christmas (yes, we are watching Christmas movies!!). My job: making the patient comfortable, keeping her company and giving her tons of hugs and kisses!