Anna had an appointment with the pediatric rheumatologist a few weeks ago. He asked her some questions about her jaw function, and her responses were enough to raise some concerns. So Anna had another MRI this past Friday. We should know the results within a week or so---to know if she has more active arthritis or more damage there. Over the past five years or so, she's had three bilateral injections to her TMJs. According to the research and the data her doctor has been collecting with help from his medical students, any more cortisone injections will probably not help. But he has some other options available should we need them.
So many thoughts going through my head! Sometimes I'm a little uncomfortable with the fact that Anna is one of those pediatric rheumatology patients that doesn't have many tried and true options left (if I allow myself to think about it too much). But then I've been reminded time and time again that God is sovereign and His timing is perfect. Each of us is born "for such a time as this"---for a specific purpose. God already knows Anna's future, and I can trust Him with it. He walks with us through every single step of this journey. We have SO MUCH to be thankful for---for doctors, nurses (and their wisdom and intelligence), for friends and family who are so aware and supportive (even though we ALL have issues of varying degrees), for the medical advances that just keep coming. Plus the fact that in the whole scheme of things, Anna is not always a typical JA teenager---she rarely complains of pain (I think her pain tolerance is incredibly high), and she lives a relatively normal life. So we focus on the positive and keep moving forward step-by-step, and we continue to ensure that this Juvenile Arthritis journey we are on is only a very small part of our lives, and not an all-consuming, overwhelming interference! Our Creator God is so much bigger than all of this. We can trust Him.
I'll update again when I have more news.
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