2009 - It's just starting

Bonjour! Wow, 2009 already ... time does fly by.

This has been a slightly stressful New Year in the MacCulloch family- I spent the holiday with my brother Wes and his family. The short version: When I got there, Wes was very sick, with what seemed like a nasty sinus infection. His joints were swollen and so painful he could hardly walk. After I left he was finally admitted to the hospital (after 3 earlier trips to the ER) and after about a weeks worth of tests and scratching of heads, they determined he has Wegener's granulolmatosis. The reason they admitted him to the hospital in the first place was an underlying case of TB that he hadn't mentioned earlier- the docs feared the TB was becoming active so they kept a close eye on his lungs, and noticed nodules. An endoscopy of the lungs and removal of nodule tissue proved to be a granuloma.

So what is Wegener's? It's a rare condition that causes inflammation of small blood vessels in and around the body, mostly affecting the lungs, upper respitory system, and kidneys. The inflammation causes loss of circulation to the organ systems which can severely damage them. Wegener's can be a nasty disease. The inflammation is caused by an abnormal immune system response, and can cause loss of vision, hearing, and be fatal (usually due to kidney failure). Thankfully the doc thinks his kidneys are fine. Right now they have him on meds to suppress his immune response, so now we just wait to see how he does and what permanent damage (if any) has been done. 

The Bad News: There is no cure for Wegener's granulomatosis. He will have to deal with this for the rest of his life. Treatment consists of suppressing the immune system and keeping it down so that he doesn't get flare ups. Everyone responds to this treatment differently.

The Good News: They caught it early, and there is a good chance he will "recover" without much permanent damage to major organs. Many people live a long life after this diagnosis.

He's still in pain though, he's lost a lot of weight (that alone is a big concern right now), he still has TB, and he's just feeling shitty.  :(