Day 346 | AUGUST 22, 2022

Good evening, Friends. Today is day 346 of our new and fantastic life! Today I woke up determined to return to a grateful mindset, the early part of the day, I did struggle a little, but towards the end of the day, I am starting to feel better. Breakfast was east, I had frozen some of the pancakes I made on Saturday, and the boys loved it! Charlie and I had a morning appointment with her Rheumatologist, and we were very much looking forward to it. Right on time, we arrived at his clinic, not far from our house, and within minutes we got to see the Dr. He was Charlie’s Doctor for a few months before the accident; he is a very detailed, compassionate, and intelligent doctor, he asked for us to tell him the whole story from the moment of the accident to what types of CEA was used in Charlie, he asked a lot of questions, he asked for a little bit of time, to come up with a good plan of action, specific to her knees, at first he is not very convinced that a knee replacement is the best way to go, he said I have few patients that have no cartilage in their knees. They can walk just fine. Of course, there is pain, but their knees can bend. He wants to find out what also is going on that is causing her legs to be locked in the straight position. Is that a tendon issue, skin, or muscle? We don’t know yet, so we don’t have a definite answer, but we are confident in his approach. Charlie will start a new RA medication that does not entirely suppress her immune response to bacterial infection, which is very exciting! It will take 3 to 4 weeks before she can feel the benefits of the new medication, but if it works, she will feel much less pain and hopefully gain some range of motion in her joints. We can hope, but there is no way to know for sure; we must wait and see. Many questions and high hopes; please continue praying After the appointment was lunchtime, we met with him for 2.5 hours, which was so informative; I am so grateful for being allowed to be there with Charlie; Dr. Katzenstein is an excellent Rheumatologist; we are so blessed to have him taking care of Charlie. Dinner was delicious, made by me cheese ravioli with a pesto sauce, we ate as a family, we played a little game with London than bath time and bedtime. Tomorrow is another big day! Our appointment with Dr. Chhabra, the hand specialist! We have so many questions and high hopes; please continue to pray for Charlie; she needs her right hand back. Thank you for your love and support! May God Bless You! André Today I woke up determined to return to a grateful mindset, the early part of the day, I did struggle a little, but towards the end of the day, I am starting to feel better. Breakfast was east, I had frozen some of the pancakes I made on Saturday, and the boys loved it! Charlie and I had a morning appointment with her Rheumatologist, and we were very much looking forward to it. Right on time, we arrived at his clinic, not far from our house, and within minutes we got to see the Dr. He was Charlie’s Doctor for a few months before the accident; he is a very detailed, compassionate, and intelligent doctor, he asked for us to tell him the whole story from the moment of the accident to what types of CEA was used in Charlie, he asked a lot of questions, he asked for a little bit of time, to come up with a good plan of action, specific to her knees, at first he is not very convinced that a knee replacement is the best way to go, he said I have few patients that have no cartilage in their knees. They can walk just fine. Of course, there is pain, but their knees can bend. He wants to find out what also is going on that is causing her legs to be locked in the straight position. Is that a tendon issue, skin, or muscle? We don’t know yet, so we don’t have a definite answer, but we are confident in his approach. Charlie will start a new RA medication that does not entirely suppress her immune response to bacterial infection, which is very exciting! It will take 3 to 4 weeks before she can feel the benefits of the new medication, but if it works, she will feel much less pain and hopefully gain some range of motion in her joints. We can hope, but there is no way to know for sure; we must wait and see. many questions and high hopes; please continue praying After the appointment was lunchtime, we met with him for 2.5 hours, which was so informative; I am so grateful for being allowed to be there with Charlie; Dr. Katzenstein is an excellent Rheumatologist; we are so blessed to have him taking care of Charlie. Dinner was delicious, made by me cheese ravioli with a pesto sauce, we ate as a family, we played a little game with London than bath time and bedtime. Tomorrow is another big day! Our appointment with Dr. Chhabra, the hand specialist! We have so many questions and high hopes; please continue to pray for Charlie; she needs her right hand back. Thank you for your love and support! May God Bless You! André