Off we went to Calgary again.
Joint injections were on the program this time around. A good thing because my son was really bothered
by the way his finger joints were feeling. His feet and ankles are bugging him
too. Pretty sad to see him walking like an old man after a basketball game.
With some snow in the forecast we left early so we could
take it easy in case we had to. Arriving half an hour early with pretty good
driving conditions made for a decent start to our long day.
Since there were quite a few joints they wanted to inject,
it was decided to do it under general anesthetic. That meant no food and drinks
for my teenage boy…don’t know if you've ever dealt with a hungry teenager; let
me tell you, it’s not a walk in the park!
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| hungry little big guy |
Drugs were ordered and picked up from the pharmacy. My boy
changed into his fancy hospital pajamas and the waiting began. About two hours
with nothing to do and nothing to eat!
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| the bringer of relief? |
He was wheeled to the “holding area”. The doc and the anesthesiologist
came and marked off his joints and talked about the procedure. He was asked if
he’d prefer an injection or gas to “put him under.” He chose gas. And off he
walked, and my heart skipped a couple of beats.
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| x marks the spot |
I went to the waiting room and watched some Olympic speed skating,
even caught a heat were the Dutch females placed for the finals in the team pursuit
so that was kind of neat. Waiting wasn't fun though, not liking the fact I couldn't
be there with my boy.
The wait was over, procedure was done and he was rolled back
on to the unit to recover. A chalk white face and pink washed hands and knee
were lying in a too small bed, with his feet sticking out. Poor groggy
guy. His knee, both his wrists and 8
finger joints were treated. His already big joints now look gigantic because of
the injected medication.
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| pretty in pink |
A long journey home again and finally, at 7 pm my hungry
person finally got to eat!
Whether or not it was successful, time will tell. For now we’ll
just wait and see. If it works: great. We can just keep doing what we are doing
now. If it is not successful: the next drug will be introduced. No more humira,
the next one will be a monthly IV. We shall see what the future holds.
Next on the agenda: MRI of both hands for the girl child,
MRI of both hands of the boy child, clinic visit with both the girl and the
boy, ophthalmology appointment with the girl child, appointment with an
allergist with the boy child, AND the dentist for both….hope to fit all of this in
somewhere!
