Yippee!!

Today was appointment day in The Swamp [Gainesville, for my new readers, is home of the Florida Gators!! We who love them call their home in Gainesville "The Swamp"] Our appointment with Dr. Modica was scheduled for 12:30 at Shands. We arrived earlier [hooray!] and parked at the medical plaza, taking the shuttle over to the Hospital, where Pediatric Rhuematology has moved. We checked in, waited, Jackson was called for his vitals, and after those were taken we waited a bit more. *Bonus while waiting? We got to see Deetra!!*

We were called back to our room and waited for a bit before Dr. Modica came in. We weren't scheduled for an infusion but that can and has changed in a matter of minutes. Our friends Deetra and family and Tiffany and family were in the infusion room where their kiddos were getting their medicine. I made a mental note to make sure I stopped by there to say hello before we left.

Dr. Modica came in and began to check out Jackson, moving his wrists, knees, ankles, arms, legs, neck, pretty much every where. Guess what? The only place where he was hurting and/or swollen was in his wrists!!! NO WHERE ELSE! And we also get to lower his naproxin dose to once a day! I can't tell you how happy that made me, and Jackson too! His combo of drugs is working, and he seems to be getting better. She said that we may even be able to stop the Humira if is he still doing well in 4 months. That and if his labs are good.

We stopped by the infusion room [which is MUCH bigger now] and I found Deetra. Poor Sydney looked sad, broke my heart, that little girl is amazing. Wait, ALL the JRA kids are amazing, and their siblings are pretty amazing too but I am trailing off topic. LOL. So I told Deetra are good news and she was thrilled for us :). I love my JRA family because of this, even though their children may not be doing well, they are happy for the familes who have children that are, and we all go through the ups and downs TOGETHER. Oh and I firmly believe once a member of the JRA family, ALWAYS a member. So after I told Deetra the news, she introduced me to Tiffany, some one that I already considered a friend even before we met today. I told her the news and like Deetra, she was happy for us.

We headed for the check out, made our appointment for October and then headed down to hitch a ride on the shuttle back to the medical plaza. We had a 3pm appointment with GI and were two hours early! We checked in there and didn't wait very long before being called back to a room. The doctor came back shortly there after and asked all kinds of questions. The basic stuff regarding Jackson's JA and then whether or not he's had tummy issues. The type of arthritis that he has can lead to inflammatory bowel disease. Everything checked out OK, he said he was OK with the labs that Dr. Modica was ordering, and then we checked out, making our next appointment for Feb., 8 months down the road! Yay!

Then it was off to the lab for blood work, and then home. Ahhhhh home. Of course that was AFTER my car crapping out on us. Thankfully we were only 4 miles from the Okahumpka Rest Stop/Plaza so we pulled over there and waited for a ride.

I am over joyed with the progress Jackson is making. I am saddened that other members of our JRA family have children who are not making the same progress. All of our children are different though and they all fight this a different way. But they FIGHT, and they don't let Arthur keep them down. Keep them in your prayers, and us too please. This can all take a turn in the opposite direction at any time.