Last night I woke up in the middle of the night at around 1:30 a.m. to what sounded like very small pellets of ice hitting the windows and roof of the house. I thought it was just the usual wind that blows the banana tree leaves that are very close to our house. I found out this morning that the Volcano (Volcan Turrialba) has begun to erupt and that had I gotten out of bed I would have seen the ash (which they say looks like snow) and small particles of debris in the air! A now 4-mile radius near the volcano has been evacuated. Today, scientists say that there is evidence that the inner walls of the volcano near the crater are cracking, yet, they do not know for sure when the "major" eruption will occur, but they are saying it wll occur eminently. They are not reporting large rocks or lava being seen with this eruption, but on the eastern side of San Jose (the capital city) which is about an hour and a half from our location here, there was reports of fallen ash as well.
I went with Ken back to his rheumatologist today and his pelvic x-ray does show rheumatoid arthritis lesions on his sacroiliac joint, but nothing that the doctor was surprised to find or at this point was grossly abnormal. All of his blood work, rheumatoid factor, and a number of other blood and antibody counts which I cannot remember all of the names of, were off the charts in numbers pointing to rheumatoid arthritis and inflammation. He has been taken off of his gout medicine that he has been on for a number of years since he obviously does not have that condition and is starting new medicines for the rheumatoid arthritis; one of which is also used for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy to help with the side effects called Methotrexate. This medicine should force his body into remission and also help limit the progression of the disease. He should be feeling much better in two weeks. He will return to his doctor in two to three months with follow up blood work, and in one year have to have repeat x-rays. Right now he is not on a rheumatoid arthritis diet so to speak, although we will be monitoring his diet closely as we always have with his gout diet, and are well aware that certain foods can contribute to flare-ups of rheumatoid arthritis.
That's about all for tonight's post. Been a long day in the city and tomorrow is packed with a meeting with the accountant for camp business, a trip to the municipality for camp documents, camp bills to pay for the New Year, a trip to the city to get the three-month supply of Ken's Methotrexate...it's time to hit the hay!
