A new diagnosis...

First off, our visit to the Rheumy in Cincy back in Oct went very well! Wesley's limb difference in his leg has caught up to the other and we were able to get the lift out of his shoe! Who hoo! He still must wear orthotics of course, but it's not nearly as bothersome for him now. There was also very little fluid remaining on the joints. Dr. Sikora said it maybe also be from his hyper mobility, he is going to keep an eye on it and see how it progresses. The only "bad" thing that was said basically was that his little legs are tightening back up, esp the ham strings, so we needed to treat it more aggressively with more PT stretching at home.

Now, onto our past two weeks... a complication suddenly showed its ugly face. Wesley's eyes became bright red off and on and then stayed that way over the course of two weeks. I new something wasn't right. Everyone else had noticed and said that it was probably allergies and not to worry, but once his teacher brought it to my attention and it never went away with visine or benadryl, I went with my gut instinct that something clearly wasn't right and got him in early with our Opthalmologist. After a slit lamp test, it was confirmed... Wesley now has uveitis. Uveitis is a complication of JIA where the arthritis actually starts to attack the eyes causing inflammation and can lead to total blindness. It was and has been a scary time for all of us! Wesley started on steroid drops in his eyes, but had a bad allergic reaction, so we had to switch to another drop for awhile. After two weeks of being on steroid drops, we are pleased that his body responded well and there seem to be no "floaters" at this time! We will follow up back in Cincinnati on Jan 6th!

PS- If you wouldn't mind, say a little prayer for our family during the holidays, as it is a very rough time for us right now. My mom, Tamara Smiens-Long, lost her battle with Cirrhosis of the Liver on October 5th at 10:53am at the young age of 51. Life is so precious and never take one moment for granted!