Then and Now..

July 2011

The drug that is currently keeping Kandis' arthritis at bay is called Prednisone. She started out in September taking 8mL of it twice daily, but we have gradually dropped that to a lower dose. She takes 4mL twice every single day. That is STILL too much Prednisone for a little girl her size and age. But with the severity of her disease, she requires a large amount of medicine to function daily (things we take for granted, such as kneeling down and then getting back up, is quite often hard for Kandis to do without assistance). The medicine itself is doing an incredible job of keeping her comfortable and virtually pain-free. However, the side effects include weight gain, facial swelling, hair growth, and stretch marks. It's very easy for a person on Prednisone to gain weight, so they require a special diet of foods low in fat and sodium. Because of this, she is 2 & 1/2, and already has to watch what she eats. As I was browsing through my pictures the other day, I found this from July 2011. Before any of the doctor visits, the hospital trips, the medication, the pain. Before we knew any of this would strike her just 1 month later. I was actually shocked at how much she has changed in just 5 months..

December 2011

This one is from December, after only 3 months of Prednisone. The good news, is that once Kandis is weaned off of the Prednisone, her face will go back to normal, and most of the side effects will subside. However, the more severe side effects, such as bone loss, that may have occurred will not reverse. Getting her on the Tocilizumab infusions as soon as possible is extremely important, as we want to avoid the serious side effects associated with long term use of Prednisone. The sooner we get funded for the expense of Tocilizumab, the sooner we can get her off of the unreasonably high dose of Prednisone her body requires to fight her disease. 

She still is, and will always be, the most beautiful girl in the world to me.