Thursday, October 15, 2009

Rissie's Arthritis


Between New Jersey and Chicago we took Rissie in to see her rhuematologist. Both knees were showing swelling. So the new plan of attack would be upping her medication treatment to stronger action, which meant giving her a shot once a week for six months. My heart sank. Who wants to give their three-year-old a shot? (It's not three times a day though, right Allison?)
I told her doctor we were in the middle of transitioning again, and didn't want to put her through something like that in the middle of jumping her around. He told us that it would be fine to wait until we got to Chicago and recommended a doctor he did his residency with.
We continued to faithfully give her the Naproxin twice a day and met with her new doctor yesterday. She was very sweet with Rissie and I was overall pleasantly impressed with her. She also found that the swelling had gone down and thought the methotrexate might be too strong for the time being. (We were running out of her med in New Jersey and (with our insurance in Utah) hadn't been giving her the full amount. Probably why the swelling had been different.)
Rissie will continue taking Naproxin at a slightly elevated dose and hopefully that will be enough!

Heartache is a hard reminder that our hearts work.

5 comments:

DeAnna said...

What a cute picture of Rissie :) I hope all goes well.

Alishia said...

Yes yes lets hope that is enough! I miss you guys here. I am excited to see updates again!

Loraine said...

Mmmmm, sure makes you love her. Hope it takes.

Tanya Leigh said...

Oh, that poor little sweetheart! What a trooper she is. Sending prayers your way. :)

Tiffany Cramer said...

Good luck to Rissie! We hope this gets worked out soon.

Familia Jenkins

Familia Jenkins
Lagoon Day


Daddy's princess on her pony.

Gingerbread House

Gingerbread House
The kids put this together in Bear Lake for the Jenkins Annual Snowmobile trip. Our poor kids...when we unloaded the car of our suitcases Lauren asked,"Do we live HERE now?"

Where's the fire?

Where's the fire?
Jon's dad tried to change the fire alarm but with it linked to the security system the fire department was automatically contacted. So after five minutes of obnoxiously loud alarms going off the truck showed up. Oops

Date with Daddy!

Date with Daddy!
Jon took Lauren to Hollywood Connection for some one on one time together. It was a hit. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANDSOME

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANDSOME
September 17th 1978

Where does it hurt?

3/14/05 Lauren's cough continues, and after her heartbreaking cries of, "I don't like my cough." I asked her where it hurt, thinking it could be either her throat or her chest. She said, "Right here." Then mouth wide open she pointed to her throat with her entire hand in her mouth and her finger at the back until she gagged.
2/19/08 This morning, we are eating breakfast when J interrupts the brief silence with a small basement burp. Without missing a beat, Lauren says, "What do you say, Daddy?" He excuses himself, then still in her motherly tone adds, "We don't fart at the table do we?"

Junk Food

9/16/08 Yesterday Lauren learned the difference between junk food and healthy food. So this morning, when she saw Rissie with a piece of candy, she said, "Mom, can I please have some junk food?"
2/9/08 Today Lauren asked me to redo her hair because it was "falling off!"

2/27/08 Lately L. has been insisting that I call her Cinderella. Sometimes I can hear her upstairs call for CINDERELLA. in a mean "step sister" tone, then in a sweet voice will answer, "I'm coming." She failed to pick up her toys when I asked, so I tried her new name and it worked wonders.

2/29/08 So L. is watching her old favorite and after Dory explains to Marlon that memory loss runs in her family, Lauren says, "It runs in my family too, Dory."

Cookie Dough

L: (in her sweetest voice) "Mom, can I have some cookie dough please?"
M: "Sure."
L: "Well," pause, "do you think you can get it from the fridge so I can like it?"
4/20/2008 So Lauren got some gum (not a fan) for being a good girl. Later, Jon asked her if she had swallowed it. She said, "No." Then he asked if she threw it away. She said, "No." So he asked her where it was, she told him it was in her throat.

Anna two months

Anna two months
L. and R. have been singing and dancing to their new piano that plays fun tunes. L. has been learning them and singing them around the house. A few days ago I overheard her sining, "Mary had a little sheep, little sheep, little sheep,...

Finding the Moon

Lauren shouts, "Grandma, there is the moon!" She started singing Twinkle Little Star, but in the mean time we had turned the corner and she soon discovered it was gone. So she tells Grandma, "We need to find another moon." 01/13/08

Lunch on the "patio"



Lauren has a new fascination with cokewatches. What's a cokewatch you ask? It's Lauren's word for Cockroach! :)

Grandma Jenkins

Grandma Jenkins

Grandma & Papa Lee

Grandma & Papa Lee

Anna's first week

Anna's first week

Anna's first day

Anna's first day

4 weeks - ALREADY

4 weeks - ALREADY
Her first and last day of church in Mexico

The Trike

The Trike
L is lounging while watching our tennis match...this is the trike that ate me.

Kids are the best source of laughter

  • I was getting dressed and L happened to be there and as I reached for my br_ she asked, "Mom, you put your b__bs on?"12/07
  • R had gotten in trouble for something, then after some reflection L said matter of factly, "Well, she's learning."12/07
  • L just told Jon to look at her stomach then lifted her arm, pulled down her sleeve, and showed him her armpit.12/07

Story came to play

Story came to play
These three happy girls just finished spinning in Daddy's chair. What kid doesn't LOVE that? When Story's mom came to pick her up she gave me the door prize she'd won. It was a full hour massage at a spa in town. It was HEAVENLY! Thanks Brooke.

L"s Nursery Teacher and friend Lesley

L"s Nursery Teacher and friend Lesley
Sunday doesn't come fast enough for L. to go with her teacher to Nursery. She will scout her out in S.M. and wave to her the rest of the meeting. She loves her.

Who's Here?

Rissie's Birthday

Rissie's Birthday

Lauren Louski Lou

Lauren Louski Lou

Hello Marissie Maroo

Hello Marissie Maroo

A. Missy & Hrma Malia

A. Missy & Hrma Malia
Loved the visit!

Ready for Church

Ready for Church

Rissie"s stuck

Rissie"s stuck
She yelled for help and I grabbed the camera

Rissie"s NEW look

Rissie"s NEW look

Ponytail Girls

Ponytail Girls

L"s B-Day Party @ Gma J"s

L"s B-Day Party @ Gma J"s

She"s done it again!

She"s done it again!
You'd think she enjoys getting it untangled with that grin.