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!