I Knew It Would Happen...

We just got back from Portland and the big family reunion. We had a great time and the kids were able to enjoy lots of quality time with their cousins. It's been a awhile since they've seen the cousins and nobody had really met Ethan in person. But with all the playtime of course came a lot of running and skipping and jumping. Of course that is awesome for all kids, but when the kid has arthritis, it can pose from trouble.

Siobhan literally seemed to be running, jumping climbing trees all day every day! By Tuesday, she was sore. I was expecting her knee to bother her, but it was her right ankle that was giving her trouble all week. Not only was she limping, she would barely put any weight on her foot at all at some points. But she kept going (and going and going and going and going) and did her best to keep up. She actually did a pretty good job of it.

It just makes me sad that we have to watch out for it all the time. When we were at the beach, I found myself thinking, 'Is the water so cold that it's going to make her ankle stiffen' or 'When she's running/limping around, is she going to come down wrong and hurt herself more'. It's to constantly be thinking about it all the time but then not wanting to let her know that you're worried.

While we were preparing for the trip, I was so worried that something was going to flare up. Turns out, I was right. It happened. But it's all good, cause now we have the under our belts. We've done the traveling thing with arthritis. We got through it and we have some tools in our arsenal for the next time. The unpredictability of it all is the hard part. Not knowing what is going to set her (it) off keeps you on your toes.

Siobhan at the Beach-July 2011

Good News...

We just got back from the pediatric opthamolgist and good news, Siobhan's eyes had no indication of inflammation. I'm so happy. The bummer of it is that Uveitis can creep up out of nowhere and there are no other symptoms to indicate a problem-meaning no pain. So we have to go back every 3 months for the next 4 (yes 4) years. If left untreated, Uveitis can cause some serious problems so we have to be vigilant. The doctor didn't have the results of her ANA (that's a blood test for auto-immune diseases like JRA and Lupus-'It's not lupus! It's never lupus!-Quick, who says that?) so if he gets the result and it's normal, then we can go every 6 months instead. So for now, this is awesome news! Hopefully when we go back in Aug, we'll be able to keep saying that!