Wednesday, March 20, 2013

3rd Remicade infusion, eye check and rheumatology check

This past week Jacob had his third infusion of Remicade. It started off very tough for him. They could not find a vein and it took multiple attempts to finally get one. To say this was heartbreaking is an understatement. Jacob was incredibly brave and sat still, patiently waiting, for them to find the vein. He was in obvious pain as they poked and poked and moved the needle around. Tears slowly ran down his face. I stood there helpless. So many thoughts ran through my mind watching my poor child go through this. No child should have to go through this to be able to see, be free of pain, and run around like the other kids. I am incredible grateful we have these meds, but it is so stinking hard watching him deal with all of this. Once the IV was finally in, he and I were very relieved. The rest of the infusion went well.

During the infusion Jacob has his eyes examined also. I am so happy to say his eyes are free of inflammation. He had been off drops for a week. His pressures were in the very high end of acceptable, but the pressure should improve now that he is off drops completely.

The next day was his 3 month appointment with his rheumatologist. Overall he feels much better and has only minimal stiffness in his knee. The doctor found some inflammation remaining in his toes, hips and knee still. She wasn't worried because he hasn't been on Remicade very long. We're going to give it some more time and see how the rest of the inflammation clears up. The important thing is he is pain free.


The next infusion will be in four weeks, and the rheumatologist said he is good until the summer.