And Done.

I am officially in remission. Whoo-hoo! I am off of the methotrexate and not exhibiting any Wegener's Symptoms. It has been a very long time since I have felt so healthy. I was sick for so many years without knowing what was wrong before I was diagnosed. It is amazing to wake up and be able to walk without arthritis, to feel 32 years old instead of 82. It is a delight not to have a constant cough and runny nose. I am so happy to be able to go through a day without taking a nap (or two).

Now that I am off of the prednisone, I have been able to loose 25 pounds of the 50 pounds I
gained during treatment. I have been following the weight watchers program and have no doubt I'll soon be back at my normal weight.

Good luck to anyone out there who was diagnosed with this awful disease. Know that it is possible to get into remission and one day stand on the other side again.

Dropping the Methotrexate

Finally, finally Dr. A is dropping my Methotrexate dossage. I am down to 5 pills every Sunday night and will drop to 3 pills a week soon. Hopefully I will officially be in remission by Halloween.

Peripheral Vision

After all of the poking and prodding that I have gone through, I think one of more unpleasant tests is totally non-invasive. It is a test of your peripheral vision. You have to look with one eye into a box and then press a button whenever a tiny dim light appears. This goes on for several minutes and is very stressful. I'm good at test taking, but I have serious anxiety with it. I am always thinking, "Did I really see that? Oh no.. Did I miss one?"

In any case I am happy to report that my peripheral vision is still okay. I have to have it checked every 6 months or so because my pituitary involvement. Apparently the optic chiasma is near the pituitary so they think the WG lesion might spread there. All is well for now at least. :)

Off the Prednisone

Whoot! I am finally off of the prednisone. I took my last dose in January and have been doing pretty good since then. Lately I have had some joint pain especially in my wrists and fingers, but Dr. W (standing in for Dr. A) didn't seem too concerned. Dr. A is having visa problems or some such and can't seem to get back in the country. He's been gone at least 4-5 months. They hope he'll be back by my appointment in May. In any case, Dr. W says that he will start dropping my methotrexate at the next visit too. I am excited about that so I don't have to be so worried about getting sick all the time.

I should mention that I've lost about 10 pounds since last summer too. It has been slow going, but I am keeping at it. I think it will be easier now that the weather is getting nicer and we can start walking after dinner again.