A Milestone!

Well... it's official: no more solumedrol (IV prednisone steroid)!!!

What wonderful news. We anticipated that solumedrol would be discontinued and sure enough it was. Gracey is extremely happy! Of course everything went well at this past Friday's doctor visit. Physical and blood tests were great and the doctor continued to be impressed with Gracey's status.

Gracey will continue on a 6 week cycle of IVIG - so... the IV's are still a part of her life. But this is certainly a major accomplishment on the road to full remission. And it means 2 days of IV's instead of 3. She also continues daily doses of oral prednisone and folic acid with weekly injections of methotrexate.

I've got to tell this little story from the checkup. Gracey was feeling very good that day and wanted to show the doctors, nurses and therapists just how far she'd come since starting all these treatments. The first time Gracey was in that exam room she could barely walk, couldn't get up on her own and if laying down couldn't even raise her head. Well after the physical tests she decided to add some pushups. Not the easy kind - but proper form pushups... back and legs straight, go down till chest touches floor then up again. She did them extremely well for everyone without even breaking a sweat. All smiles!

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want... ".
It's true you know!

More to come... ALWAYS

Time for a checkup

This coming Friday we head back to the doctor for a checkup. Gracey seems to be doing extremely well! Her muscles have maintained strength - she can do sit-ups like they're nothing. Her skin looks wonderful. Smooth and clear. This checkup comes with a little more anxiety than others because we are expecting the doctor to discontinue the IV steroid (solumedrol) this time. We all hope it happens but at the same time it's a scary proposition and we pray her body maintains its equilibrium...

But, for now, Christmas was great and so was new years. This is starting out to be an exceptional year for all. I'll post an update after we get back from the doctor.