September 2012 Rheumatology recheck

Jacob has been off of Humira over 3 months now. Overall he is still doing very well. At his last visit he had a couple of swollen toes and was started on Meloxicam. His toes lookrd grest! There wasn't any swelling in them. The only other thing that was a concern this visit was his left hip, again. A month ago his hip seemed to be okay, now it is stiff again. Jacob does not have any pain in it though. Jacob has never really complained of pain anywhere. I honestly think he has a very high pain tolerance and unless it's something severe with him it doesn't register. The rheumatologist made it very clear that his hip isn't "normal" but she is unsure if it's active disease or if it's stiff because of past active disease. His last MRI, a year ago, had shown then that there was active arthritis in both hips. So the plan for now is that the doctor wants to give him another few months off of the heavy meds and repeat an MRI then. The MRI will determine whether or not he will need to start back on his medication. I discussed with the doctor that I was a little worried that if this is active disease, what is it doing to his hip right now. Hip arthritis scares me. She felt as though if we waited another three months that we wouldn't lose any ground without treatment. She wants him to continue this "holiday" off the meds. So by the time the MRI is done it will be 6 months off of medication. I am glad his body is getting a rest from these meds and hope all stays quiet!

Oh I almost forgot to add, Jacob had an eye appointment last week and his eyes are still clear. So no Humira for 3 months and NO RELAPSE!!! Wahooo!! We still need to see Dr. Foster every three months to be sure they stay clear.