Our gratitude runs deep.
At the end of September we were informed that Ryan's cardiac MR showed abnormalities suggesting cardiac sarcoidosis on the basal wall of his heart. Our local cardiologist explained calmly that there is no disease other than Sarcoidosis that would present itself in that manner. The heart (and brain) are clearly two organs that propose serious risk when involved with Sarcoidosis. This was devastating news.
Again, we mailed off images to our gracious family friend and his team of radiologist. Over the course of several weeks he had a total of three cardiac MR experts review his scans and ALL three reported normal findings seeing NOTHING to indicate cardiac sarcoid!
Last week we traveled back up to UAB for a marathon day of 6 back-to-back appointments. We were very thankful they could be scheduled in one day.
First we saw the Neuro-Opthamologist for the third time. Good news! The swelling on his optic nerve is gone completely and he even regained some of his central vision!
Next, breathing tests and blood work.
Then we saw the director of the sarcoidosis clinic. The biggest take away was that he would like Ryan to remain on a low dose of prednisone for a few more months (he had just tapered from 60 mg. to 5 mg over a 6 week period) to prevent relapse.
Next up is the Medical Evaluation Board process. We are hopeful they will deem Ryan fit for active duty and accept his two medical limitations: 1. Needs to be stationed near a base hospital 2. He is no longer deployable for risk of reactivating disease.
We will keep you posted!
