The Latest

Here is the latest news on Nora:

Three weeks ago Nora started on predisone to calm her immune system and get the inflammation under control. She promptly got a bad cold which she couldn't fight off and became very sick. It was a really rough week for her. Her antibody test came back indeterminate, which definitely doesn't mean she doesn't have Crohn's (anywhere from only 40% to max 70% of IBD patients have the specific antibody pattern), but the doc wanted to run some additional tests just to be sure we weren't dealing with another autoimmune disorder that was affecting her GI tract (all tests were negative). Dr. Pickens also sent her biopsy tissue down to Dr. Heimen in San Francisco who will look over them with his pathologist to make sure nothing got missed. I would also like to mention that they are doing this for FREE. We have wonderful doctors.

Anyway, the week was filled with lots of blood tests, doctor check up's, and stool tests (I am a pro at collecting poop now...if there was a degree in it I'd totally have it - Jennette Worton, Doctor of Poop Shovelling). She lost weight and was all around miserable....however, her blood work was PERFECT!! No anemia, white blood cell count was normal, and all her inflammatory markers were ZERO. The prednisone had done its job splendidly, so we took her off it immediately, and a few days later she got much better (and popped 3 teeth out).

She has now started on sulfasalazine, a topical anti-inflammatory drug that has no immunosupressant effects, which is good and bad. Good that she will be able to somewhat fight off bugs that come her way, but bad in the sense that the drug technically isn't helping the underlying issue of the disease, just helping the symptoms. However, since we don't know a lot about the progression or severity of her disease yet, I think no immunosupressants is a good thing, especially with how well she is doing this week. She is so bubbly and happy, laughing all the time, giving high 5's, saying new words, playing with her sis, chasing the cats. After lots of help from Grandma Lee on Saturday night she is also now taking a bottle, and since yesterday she has even started taking her special formula - yay!! She is definitely on the mend and I couldn't be happier.

Once again, THANK YOU to everyone for all your help, your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement.