Wednesday, 10th August

Yesterday was National Women's Day in SA so we enjoyed a public holiday.  Monday was a school holiday and with Jimmy being away from last Thursday till this Sunday passed, it feels more like we've had two weeks off and not just a day.  The sun is shining today and it's quite a bit warmer and I am now looking forward to Spring.  I have never been a Winter person and I am tired of having cold feet no matter how thick the socks are that I wear.

Jimmy had his monthly check up with Prof Novitzky on the 1st and everything is going very well with the Thalidomide maintenance treatment that he is on and thankfully no side effects to date. We unfortunately have not got to the bottom of the ankle debacle, Jimmy is still limping and lags behind us when we are walking and from time to time it is a bit swollen but Prof again said that he does not believe it is a side effect of the Thalidomide.  Fair enough but I do not believe it can be gout which started on the 25th of June.....it would have to be a marathon gout attack!  But then again Jimmy likes to go big.

Early last week Jimmy started with the sniffles and I was a bit concerned about him going to Jnb for work from Thursday to Sunday.  Apart from being away with a cold I have concerns about him even flying and being in a confined space with passengers who have colds and flu during our winter months. On Wednesday night his temp went up slightly but by Thursday morning it was down again. I tried to convince him to go see our GP before he left but he was adamant he would be fine so I sent him off with some over the counter flu meds and the thermometer and made him promise he would take his temperature 3 times a day and let me know how it was going. He got back on Sunday and still wasn't 100% and then on Monday morning his temperature spiked to almost 39 degrees.  Although I was very thankful that this didn't happen while he was in Jnb (can you imagine what it would be like with him being admitted to hospital in Jnb with no Prof Novitzky and me in CT?) my heart hit the ground.  He had only been discharged on the 27th of June from the last infection and I couldn't believe this was happening again.  I phoned the chemo clinic and Olivia said to bring him in straight away.

Dr Du Toit has left to follow a career in Haematology so we met the new doctor, Dr Madurai.  He looks more like a rugby player than a doctor and what a pleasure listening to him while he explains and asks questions and explains why he is asking and makes his diagnosis.  He assured us that he phoned Prof prior to us arriving and Prof told him that whenever Jimmy comes in with a temperature he ends up in high care for 2 weeks.  This also re-assured me as having a new doctor that not might have had time to read up on Jimmy's background made me nervous.  His diagnosis was a sinus infection and he said there was no need to be admitted.  He gave us a script for antibiotics and said that we should contact him if Jimmy's temperature goes up again.

So I started typing this on Wednesday and today is Friday...

Jimmy's temp has stabilised around 37.5 so we keeping an eye on this.  He hasn't been feeling very well at all and went into work on Wednesday but came home early and stayed home yesterday and today.  He is feeling much better this afternoon so I'm sure the antibiotics have kicked in now and he should be over the worst.  I just wish his cough would get better, it's a bad one and keeps him awake all night.....me too :(

Today is 7 weeks that I have had the most excruciating rash on my back.  I have tried everything to relieve it from aqueous cream, Mylocorte, Antihistamines and eventually I went to see our GP who said it was Psoriasis.  He prescribed Dovobet cream which seamed to relieve it slightly for the first three days and then it got even worse.  I was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis and Fibromyalgia about 13 years ago and see Dr Gotlieb, who is my rheumatologist,  every 6 months unless I am having problems.  Apart from a slight flare up every now and then my arthritis is pretty much under control with the medication that I am on but I have been battling with backache for quite some time.  I can't say the same for the Fibromyalgia but I suppose we just learn to live with these problems when there are far more important things to see to.  The whole time that I have had the rash my fingers have been very achy.  When I saw Dr Gotlieb yesterday I explained to him that it feels like I have been hanging on a shower curtain rod for 8 hours, which he thought was quite a funny description but a good one.  He was horrified when he saw my back and can't believe that I have struggled with this for the last 7 weeks.  He confirmed the Psoriasis diagnoses and made an appointment for me to see a Dermatologist on Monday.  We then got to discussing my backache which is sore more often than it isn't.  I battle to sleep at night as I am aware of the pain which makes me tired, which makes my back even worse during the day because I haven't rested properly during the night.  He went back through my records and for 4 years now he has been giving me injections in my sacroiliac joints to relieve the pain whenever I see him.  I think we were both quite surprised to see that it has been 4 year already. 

So on Tuesday I am going for an MRI as Dr Gotlieb suspects I might have Spondyloarthritis.  Huh?? Thankfully he is a patient man and very kindly explained it to me.  Doctors classify people as having a certain type of spondyloarthritis according to the predominant disease feature.  If, as Dr Gotlieb suspects, the MRI show changes consistent with inflammation in the sacroiliac joints in the pelvis then my diagnoses would be Psoriatic Arthritis and Ankylosing Spondylitis.  He has already changed my medication from Nivaquine or Plasmoquine (which ever the pharmacist has in stock) to Methotrexate which will help for the psoriasis rash, I went for a whole lot of blood tests today and he has also given me Arcoxia which is a much stronger pain meds (which will also help with the Fibromyalgia) and half a cortisone tablet a day.  Things can only get better from here.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention that I have a sinus infection...tut tut