Good one first - Casey's checkup went great. The little guy was moving around like crazy and doing well.
For me - nothing good.
Immunology - I had read about another immunosuppressive drug that had been tried on 6 steroid depended IA patients, with 3 being able to come off steroids completely. It was a study done in 2003. Unfortunately Dr. Krish does not feel; 1) that I am stable enough to try anything experimental, 2) that it will work for me, 3)that the side effects are worth the benefit. He added Allegra to my meds and I am to stop trying to further reduce my steroid dose.
Cardiology - Due to the side effects, I am off Multaq. I am going back on diltiazem. You may wonder why I am going back on a medication that didn't work the first time. 1) My blood pressure did better on it. 2) I felt better overall on it than any other med we have tried for the tachycardia. We doubled my Lasix dose because of my continued swelling and also doubled my potassium dose. - What next? Pray that for some reason the diltiazem miraculously works this time. Other options - possibly trying other antiarrythmic drugs, but side effects may be a problem. Amiodarone is still an option if I am just not doing well enough on diltiazem.
Overall this means I can expect really no significant changes other than hopefully having less rashes with the addition of Allegra and less swelling with the increased diuretics. Dr. Haddadin says that I may have built a tolerance to loop diuretics because I have been on them for many years. If increasing doses of Lasix doesn't work then he is going to try Demadex.
We made it through the storms with no damage to our trees. It is amazing to drive through Doe Valley. Trees are down everywhere.
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