Good News from the Doctor

This past Monday was Gracey's 4 month checkup and it was a good one! Her muscles have maintained full strength now for almost 8 months and the rash is pretty much gone. Since she has maintained such a solid recovery the doctor agreed it is time to space her IV's out from 5 to 6 weeks. Furthermore we return for a checkup in January and if Gracey is still doing this well we will discontinue IV solumedrol (steroid). WOW! That's what we really want to get her off of as soon as possible due to the nasty side effects. Gracey will likely continue IVIG pulsings a few months after but IVIG is not nearly as hard on her as the steroid. So it's entirely possible Gracey could be off all IV's by summer 2008.

Her physical test (CMOS) went well and she scored a perfect score for the third straight visit. Her labs came back good and as mentioned the rash is non-existant. The only serious warning given to us by the doctor before we left was to make sure she does not get a sunburn. Such a thing could set Gracey back to day 1. Not gonna be a problem for us - we carry a couple extra gallons of sunscreen everywhere we go!

Next month is the Marine Corp Marathon in DC - October 27th. Gracey plans on running a mile and is practicing regularly. Her strength is awesome and I don't think she'll have any problems that day. I might have a problem keeping up with her though...