Going Home At Last!

It is Thursday evening and Sulwen is being discharged from LPCH! Although Infectious Disease still is waiting for a few test results, Rheumatology has given her a diagnosis of Systemic Junior Idiopathic Arthritis. Evidently, the team at Stanford says that Still's Disease is a term only used for the adult-onset version of this disease. So, Sulwen has fondly been called "a systemic" by the team at LPCH.

She will rest at Nanny's tonight in Palo Alto and then journey home to Timber Cove for a glorious weekend - it's supposed to be 80 degrees here! Monday, the family will head back to the Bay Area for the initial 3-day treatment of the steroid, prednisone. Sulwen will be in-patient at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View Monday through Wednesday. LPCH has a floor at this hospital and the Rheumatology team makes rounds. Tanna and Stephen have been told that it should be quieter for them there.

The LPCH Rheumatology team has taken Sulwen as their "charge" and Tanna and Stephen feel confident that she will receive the best care from this group as they have proven their ability to work with Sulwen, communicate with Tanna and Stephen and utilize their knowledge, intelligence and talent in their care for her.

The physicians recommended reviewing the Arthritis Foundation website for more information, and in particular the page on JRA. I found it helpful in providing information on the disease, its treatment options as well as addressing the emotional side of the disease. They also recommended the NIH site - this link will take you to the Health Information page about Juvenile Arthritis, which I thought was good, too.

I look forward to sharing with you more information, more updates as well as ways in which we can help as the Timber Cove Drapkins start this new chapter.

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