2013 Winter Update

Happy 2013 everyone! It's been a few months since I last sent out an update and I notice that this update is the big 2-0. Also in 2013 I hit the big 5-0 so that's another milestone coming up this year.

I had a checkup this morning at the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center in Baltimore, MD. When I arrived, the waiting room was packed but they quickly took my vitals and got me into a room. In 2 minutes Dr Wigley came in sporting a big smile as he usually does and sat down for a chat. We discussed the last few months since I was there in August and how I was feeling. We went through the list & dosage of medications, how my breathing was etc. I then got on the exam table and he checked out my skin which he was happy to see was flexible in all but a few places. He listened to my lungs and heart and checked out my range of movement and if I had any pain which I didn't.

I've been back on cellcept, the drug which is suppressing my immune system from going a bit bonkers, for 13 months (Jan 2012) and it seems to have again done its job of making the scleroderma calm down and not cause any further problems and damage. I'm currently taking 6 pills a day and I will start to take 5 pills daily for the next 6 weeks. After 6 weeks I will cut out a second pill and reduce the medication to 4 pills a day until I head back to see him in 6 months.

I gave half a dozen vials of blood, some of which will be used for research, then made my next appointment and hit the road back home. Walking out with some tasty Maryland crab cakes would have been great but I'll take a lower dosage of the medication as a nice parting gift.

Well that wraps up another update. If anything exciting happens before my next scheduled update I will send along a quick note. Hopefully spring and warmer weather will be just around the corner and old man winter will go easy on us. Until then, stay happy and stay well!!

2012 Holiday Update

I had a couple of requests for a quick update on how things are going. My next visit to Dr Wigley at the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center is in February so the lack of updates are just do mostly to not having anything significant worth posting about.

I've had no change for the better or worse since my last visit over the summer. I think those with scleroderma would usually consider no change being good news and that's how I think of it too. I'd love to see some improvement such as more range of motion in some joints but I can deal with what I have.

I'm down in NC at my wife's parents house with her brother and sister here or arriving today so we'll have 15 of us together for Christmas. Lots of noise and lots of chaos but there will be lots of fun and laughing. It's a great time of year to celebrate life and I wish everyone a great holiday and a happy and healthy 2013!

2012 Summer Update

On Weds I had another quick trip down to Baltimore and a visit to the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center to see Dr Wigley. It was 3 months since my previous visit in May and 6 months since I went back on the medication to help suppress my immune system which seemed to have jumped into overdrive again. It is just around 6 years now that I found out I was initially diagnosed with Scleroderma.

Overall I feel better then I did 6 months ago which is good news. My weight was down a couple pounds but I think that was more being weighed in shorts vs jeans. Dr Wigley and I discussed how I was feeling and what changes I've noticed. Internally (heart, lungs, etc) everything appears fine. He then examined me and seemed to feel that overall my skin looked good but my hands and ankles seemed to indicate a slight decrease in elasticity/flexibility. Not all great news but not bad news either.

So we decided to stay on the maximum dosage for another 3 months and see how it goes. In 3 months I will check in with Dr Wigley and let him know how I feel and if anything has changed. If things seem to have improved, we might drop the dosage a bit. Otherwise, we will keep it as is and head back there in February for a 6 month checkup.

Dr Wigley mentioned they also have some new medication they are trying out so if the Cellcept immunosuppressant doesn't work, there is another option to consider. I didn't ask the specifics on the name or type of drug and hopefully it won't be necessary. I then gave 6 vials of blood for research purposes and was on my way.

On my way back home I hit a traffic jam a mile short of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. There were 2 lanes closed off for the entire span because a distraught guy got out of his car and was sitting on the edge with his feet dangling off. A newspaper article on Thursday indicated he was there for 7 hours before he decided not to jump. Can things really be that bad?

So that's a wrap for this update. If anything noteworthy happens over the next 6 months I will send something around. Otherwise, you should hear from me again in February. Be safe, enjoy the rest of the summer, and stay well!

2012 Spring Update

It has been a busy 2 weeks with a trip to the Scleroderma Center at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore last week sandwiched between trips to Clemson University and Orlando, FL.

My wife drove down with me this trip getting up very early to make the ride . After the preliminary weigh in and blood pressure I was off to the exam room where Dr Wigley came in and we discussed the past couple of months since my January visit. In January I went back on cellcept, an immunosuppressant drug, and I started to feel better near the end of March, but felt crummy again the first couple weeks of April. The skin on my face has also been very red like it is sunburned and uncomfortable. He examined me checking my skin elasticity on various parts of my body, joint mobility and breathing. He felt there was some additional tightening of the skin on my arms but nothing very different elsewhere on my body.

After the exam he recommended increasing the cellcept dosage to the max of 3 pills twice a day to get the medication, which previously worked, at maximum strength so it will again shut down any further activity. He also prescribed a different medication to try and deal with the reddness on my face, and if that doesn't work I'm off to a dermatologist. That's all we can do right now and wait for the drug to kick in again and slap down my immune system.

My next appointment is the beginning of August, a couple weeks before we head to SC to drop my oldest daughter at Clemson to start her freshman year at college. Hopefully by my next visit I will be feeling much better. After driving back home from Baltimore we finished packing and headed off to the airport and an evening flight to Orlando.

That's a wrap for this update and I'll be back in touch the beginning of August. Enjoy the rest of the school year and the first half of the summer and stay well!

2012 Scleroderma Winter Update

Happy New Year to everyone! It has been about 6 months since my last update to you and I've just returned from a checkup at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. It was an easy ride this morning down to Baltimore for a 10am visit. My first visit to John Hopkins was in Jan 2007 so it has been 5 years since I've been under Dr Wigley's magnificent care.

I met with Dr Wigley and we reviewed some tests I had done in November. One test is an echo cardiogram which is essentially a sonogram of the heart. The test shows everything is normal. The other test was a Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) that primarily measures lung capacity and the results were the same or slightly better than the previous test, so inside things are looking good.

I described to Dr Wigley how I've been feeling, which hasn't been great since about mid November. Nothing terrible, but just not as good as I have been feeling. I don't react a lot to how I feel on any specific day because I feel different every day, and even multiple times within each day. A single odd feeling day or two isn't much to me and never worth mentioning. As one example, this past weekend, my left arm felt like I had sunburn and someone was rubbing it very hard, and the skin on the upper half of my torso was very tight. Then on Monday, those feelings were completely gone. So with my description of how I've been feeling, Dr Wigley examined me and concluded that there's been a slight change from my past visits. We discussed the options and we both felt that going back on Cellcept made the most sense. Cellcept is the medication I was taking from Jan 2007 through Jan 2010 to suppress my immune system from turning on me. I had stopped the Cellcept medication in Jan 2010, which is 2 years ago this month. It is like playing whack-a-mole with my immune system and we just need to beat it into submission again.

After the exam they took 8 vials of blood from me for evaluation and research. As I got in my car, I noticed a man walking toward me from across the parking lot with newspapers under his arm and it was Ted Koppel. I didn't stop him but I waited until he got in his car and he was driving a BMW SUV with NY plates. Not sure if he was at JH for himself or visiting someone he knows. My next visit to Johns Hopkins will be in 3 months at the end of April and we'll see how things are then.

I'm a Giant fan and season ticket holder, so hopefully in 1 1/2 weeks, we'll be able to celebrate another Super Bowl win! If they don't beat the Patriots, they still went farther this year than I had expected. It's been an exciting few weeks to be a Giant's fan with 1 more game to go. Let's go Big Blue!!

I'll get back to you all in a couple months with an update on how things are progressing. Hopefully we won't have too much snow shoveling to do between now and then!

Stay healthy!

2011 Scleroderma Summer Update

Is it warm enough for everyone? It can't be too warm for me, but I imagine a nice cool fall day or a cool ocean breeze would be preferred by most. It has been 6 months since my last update in January and things are still going very well. In the spring of 2006 I had my first symptoms which turned out to be scleroderma which means I've passed the 5 year mark of having the disease. Today was my mid-year check-up down at Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center in Baltimore, MD and here's the uneventful update on my condition.

I went solo this trip and arrived around 9:30 for my 9:50am appt. I noticed on the wall in the waiting area a set of pictures representing all the doctors working there now. When I had my first trip in Jan 2007 it was Dr Wigley and one other doctor and I think that was it. The pictures on the wall indicated more like 10 doctors now active in treating patients. I'm sure they are all fine doctors but I know I have the best with Dr Wigley.

I had my vitals taken and I waited for Dr Wigley to come in. He opened the door with a big smile and we chatted for a bit before getting down to business. We reviewed my medications, one of which we stopped after my last visit. I haven't experienced any downsides yet from stopping the medication, Protonix, used to prevent acid reflux. I was on the medication in the first place because one of the areas of damage that occurred was with my esophagus but it seems at least for now, I can get away without medication. That means I'm down to taking 2 drugs, one of which is ibuprofen and the other for reynauds which I still experience. Reynauds causes my fingers/hands to turn purple as my body determines it needs more blood to keep my core temperature down. During these brutally hot days, it can still kick in such as when I walk into a cold air conditioned location, but it has been very quiet since about June. So for now I'll keeping taking those 2 medications.

Dr Wigley listened to my heart and lungs and checked out my skin across my body. Everything is the same as it has been which is ok on my hands and very good everywhere else. When he was done checking me out, I asked if anything new was going on with results from studies on reducing fibrosis (hardening of the tendons) or breaking down the collagen which is what would help the stiffness in my hands. He filled me in and indicated there are lots of tests underway but nothing yet that is consistently showing positive results or where the possible side effects would be worth taking a chance on someone like me where it's not impacting my everyday life.

He gave me prescriptions to have an echo cardiogram (ultrasound of my heart) and a pulmonary function test to check out my lungs to make sure everything inside is still as good as it was the last time I had those tests. He then sent me off to the Phlebotomist (fancy name for the gal who pokes me with a needle) to give 6 vials of blood for analysis and research. I made my next appointment for the end of January and set off for home. Like I said at the start, uneventful, and I'll gladly take uneventful.

I receive some comments here as well of a fair amount of direct emails, so don't be shy and if you have any questions or want to make a comment, please go ahead. I'll absolutely take the time to answer every email I receive.

Enjoy the rest of the summer. Have fun and stay healthy!

2011 Scleroderma Winter Update

Happy 2011 everyone! I'm sending out a rather uneventful update to the folks that have been following my updates on having Scleroderma. Today was my first checkup in 2011 and 6 months from my summer checkup in 2010. Because wife and kids have been dealing with vacation and snow days, it wasn't practical for one of them to take off, so just after 6am I set off to Baltimore and Johns Hopkins on my own. It was raining, but not sleet/ice like we had yesterday so it wasn't rough driving.

My appointment was at 10am and the waiting room was pretty busy, but I didn't wait long. Blood pressure and weight are fine and where they should be. Dr Wigley came in with a big smile and he commented how I didn't have any of my gals with me this visit. I told him over the summer for the next visit someone will probably tag along. I also found out that Dr Wigley was interviewed again on The Today show to discuss Raynaud's so I asked him about it and he said the interview was fine, but he was disappointed that there wasn't enough time to talk about the new treatments. I have Raynaud's as part of Scleroderma. My fingers turn purple, not white as discussed in the video. You can see the short video clip of the interview here - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/40779682#40779682

We reviewed the medications I'm on and then started talking about how I felt, any issues, etc. Everything is stable and my condition is unchanged over the past 2 years including the past year since I've been off the main medication of cellcept. Dr Wigley said he needs more patients like me. He checked me over and everything looks very good. We then discussed reducing one of the medications I'm on which is Protonix. It is used to address acid reflux which is common in scleroderma patients because of a hardening of the wall of the esophagus. He said I should start by taking the medication every other day for a while and if things are fine, go to once every 3 days, etc. He said the medication slows the absorption of calcium, so if I don't need it, I might as well not take it. We'll see how that goes. Though no where near the cost of what the cellcept medication was, I'm sure my insurance company won't mind me eliminating Protonix at a cost of about $1200/yr.

Dr Wigley gave me some slips to have another Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) to measure lung capacity and an echo cardiogram to make sure my heart is functioning properly and there is no scarring. He said to come back and visit him in 6 months so my next appt is near the end of July. They then took 5 vials of blood for research and asked if I would participate in another test so I said sure. The test was very similar to a PFT where they were measuring lung capacity, etc. and it took about 15 mins to do the test. They are always extremely glad when someone is willing to help them with their research and all I think about is I might not be here if someone else didn't volunteer years ago, so how could I even consider saying no?

For me this Thursday (tomorrow as I write this) will be my last day at my current company and on Friday I start at a company in NJ. I had a terrific team where I was and we did fantastic work, but it is a better opportunity at the new company so I'm making the move. I'll be back in NJ with about half the commute I've been taking for a few years..

That about wraps it up for this latest update. Nothing very exciting, which I guess is a good thing. I'll send out another update the end of July, so we just need to get past a cold & snowy winter and a rainy spring and it will be summer before we all know it.

Stay well everyone!