Latest Update

Anna had a steroid injection into her left knee on Friday. Her rheumatologist told her that after that injection, she could choose whether she wanted the other knee done, as well. (There's some swelling there, too, although not as much as the left knee.) She was calm and somewhat interested (except that she turned her head away when the long needle was going in), but she declined the offer for an injection to the right knee for now. If the arthritis continues to be active in that knee for the next few months (we go back in July), she'll need to have it done, though. (She said the injection procedure wasn't bad--she just didn't want both knees done at one time, especially since she had a choice in the matter.) We're also scheduling another MRI in June, to check on the TMJs.

On another note, Hershey Med has stopped participating with the supplemental health insurance we receive through the state for Anna (available to her since she has a chronic illness). The state offers choices of other providers, but our primary care physician currently does not participate with any of those. (They're working on it and have all of the paperwork in--just waiting for the contract to be approved.) There is a level of frustration, and this is one reason why I really don't like health insurance which is overseen by government. According to the people I spoke with, if we wanted to choose a different provider which Hershey Med participates with, we would need to choose a different PCP for Anna (I'm NOT going to do that---our PCP has been our doctor for 24+ years and has known Anna since she was a baby). At least it's just supplemental insurance, and we really can cover the co-pays at the doctor's office and some of the other charges until Anna reaches the deductible. The main reason we applied for the supplemental insurance through the state was because of the massive co-pays on the medications, and as far as I know, our pharmacies still participate with the current supplemental provider. We'll be fine, and it will all work out, but I happened to wonder how people feel if that's their primary healthcare. Maybe other people don't build up our level of loyalty to our PCP---maybe it's easy for them to switch doctors. I don't know. I'll stop rambling about it, now.

We've had a very long and busy week in many ways. I'm hoping that life will settle down a bit. We have six weeks until Anna's next ophthalmologist appointment. Maybe we can focus on some other things besides uveitis and arthritis for a little bit (we have many other things to focus on---some track meets and Invitationals, concerts, helping Abby move from her freshman dorm to her summer dorm, etc., planning some vacation days, and maybe making more progress in our kitchen and dining room. If I don't update this blog for another six weeks, you'll know that I'm busy with other aspects of life and that we've been able to put arthritis and uveitis on the back burner for just a little bit. :o)