Sarah was not feeling great towards the end of the school year. More abdominal pain, more fatigue, more not wanting to do sleepovers or other fun things. We took her back to her gastro doctor who wanted to do an updated endoscopy and colonoscopy. The last time was already two years ago! He found lots of inflammation in her lower intestine and some ulcerous spots. This is a pic after she woke up from the procedure. She looks frail to me, and quite thin at 74 lbs.
He prescribed Remicade, a biologic infusion drug as the next step in treatment. It wasn't a decision we took lightly, as the side effects are terrifying. But many patients have done very well on Remicade and she isn't staying in remission on her current meds. This is her during her first infusion. It's basically three hours of sitting in a chair while the drug is dripped into her arm. She gets a comfy chair, a warm blanket and lots of electronics.
So far, we haven't seen any negative effects but the short term ones are not the ones we're worried about.
1 comment:
I'm so sorry to read this! I had no idea. I will pray that there are no long term effects from this drug and that she begins to feel better soon.
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