Hannah

This blog is hard to write, but I really want to update everyone on Hannah and most of all, just ask for your prayers for her.

Back in January, we took Hannah to her pediatrician because she had been waking up in the mornings and at naps with a limp. She would also scream and cry when we tried to put her arms in her shirt when dressing her and when someone would try to pick her up by her wrists. The dr did x-rays on her hips and her right wrist to see if maybe her wrist was broken or something and to see if she was having issues with her hips again. (She had hip displasia when she was born). Her hips looked perfect and nothing showed up on the wrist. He also did blood work. It came back with an elevated sed rate and a positive ANA--two things that made him think rheumatoid arthritis. He sent us to Childrens Hospital to see Dr. Paula Morris, a pediatric rheumatologist. She basically confirmed that Hannah probably had JRA, Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. She started her on Naproxen twice a day.

Most of the time, you wouldn't even know there was anything wrong with Hannah other than that she doesn't use her right hand like she would normally. She will write with it some, but she almost always puts her whole arm down to climb up on something. When she gets sick, though, she will run a fever and this causes her joints to really hurt, especially her right wrist. In the last month and a half, she has had 3 "flare-ups" where she runs a fever and her joints hurt. The last few times, she has had pain in both her wrists and her right ankle. When she doesn't feel well, she just wants to lay on the couch and watch tv. She holds her hands out away from her body so they don't touch anything. The slightest touch makes her cry. It is extremely hard to watch her go through this and not be able to do much to comfort her. Sometimes she doesn't even want to be held.

Her latest flare-up was this past weekend. Sunday night when Kris put her to bed, this was what she prayed for: "Momma, Momma, help me to feel better and not be sick, Lincoln, Daddy, and Momma. Jesus Name, Amen." Breaks my heart. She is becoming more and more aware I think that something is wrong with her. This is so hard for a 2 year old to understand.

Hannah had an MRI on her wrist a couple of weeks ago to verify that the swelling/inflammation was actually JRA and not something else. The MRI confirmed that it was, but did say that as of now there is no joint damage. So, Dr Morris has prescribed a more powerful drug, Methotrexate, to be given once a week--by injection by us. She also has to take folic acid everyday except the day of the injection to help with the side effects (nausea). We will give Hannah her first shot this Thursday.

Needless to say, we are not looking forward to having to do the shot at all, but are very willing to do it if it will help her feel better. So, I'd just like to ask any of you reading this to say a prayer for Hannah--that she will "feel better and not be sick".

Thanks so much!!!