Mackenzie had her quarterly check up with her rheumatology team at the University of Michigan Mott Children’s Hospital.  Overall the check up was good.  At the time of her examination she had no signs of active arthritis.

The Monday before Thanksgiving Mackenzie had one of the worst flares of her arthritis that she has had since getting it under control last Fall.  The fact that we had close to a thirty degree swing in temperatures outside and she was coming down with a respiratory infection really combined to create the flare.  On that Monday her fingers swelled to the extent that she struggled to play with toys easily and she spent the better part of the day outside of school sitting curled up in the recliner snuggled in a blanket.  On a positive note the swelling went down with 48 hours and she was in less pain.

By the end of the week we had her in to the pediatrician to have her lungs listened to as her cough had progressed and we weren’t sure she was getting any better.  A lung x-ray showed that her lungs were clear so she just had to give the virus time to work itself out of her system.

Because of these events the rheumatologist said that she will most likely just have to continue on her Enbrel for a longer period of time as this recent flare is an indication that the arthritis is for the most part controlled but not yet in a state that resembles the start of remission.  We go back in March for another check up and we’ll keep you posted.