Robert Docken
Robert l. Docken Born May 6, 1972 diagnosed Stills Oct 1, 2002
The onset of Stills was very sudden for me,with only few minor signs at first 1.Pain in middle of my chest,a visit to ER found nothin,extreme pain whenever i laughed,coughed,sneezed or breathed too heavy(went away and has not came back that severe since)2.my left knee began to lock sorta walk-lock,walk-lock ect(only occured ocassionally for weeks).Well the world as i know turned around with 1 golf outing,felt awful stiff in morning,but went golfin anyways.By the end of ten holes i had almost become crippled by somethin at time,i had NO CLUE
Another trip to the ER was fruitless, nothin at all was found wrong with me,even though i could hardly walk.I was given this by the doctor outside the ER room his words (I can not find nothin wrong & this second time you have been here find yourself a family doctor). Discouraged i found myself a doctor, oviously i was sent home with (Anti-biotics), told was flu. Weeks went by no improvment,switched to different Anti-biotic same thing, was about this time some stuff showed up in testing 1.minor amount blood in urine 2.pretty high White Blood count.
A few more weeks later i caved i couldnt care for myself,so i moved back home.That very same night i had my first fever with chills and sweat,at the ER finally someone at least listened and found somethin puzzling Pericardis (sac fluid around heart). Was immediatly shipped to City hospital Edmonton Misicordia,Alberta Canada,same hospital that delivered me as a baby:).Anyways upon admission i was given this freaky comment(we dont know whats wrong with you but your very sick man&your stayin.1 week went by and what turned out to look like hives at first turned into a nasty Stills rash,covered head to toe in the raised solid rash,witch got worse at night,but rarly itched. After very exaustive tests was given a Diagnosis of Mono and sent home, Wrong lol. A week went by and i was to see my Interalist again very bad news,i dont have Mono&im being ammitted again as i was very bad off.My diagnostic results after Three more weeks in hospital, 30 Y.O Admitted with fever of unknow origin.Extensive infectious disease workup revealed no infectious etiology despite fever X 6 weeks, arthritis, pleuritis, pericardis, anemia, hepatospenomegaly, hepatitis, rash, amemia. Ultimatly diagnosed with AOSD.I was released and given 60 mgs of prednisone,very next day i was outta that hospital bed witch was only done either in a wheelchair & or emergency #2 visits to the washroom. Prior to prednisone&during my onset i had lost 46 pounds,but prednisone took care of that :).
Although still extremely sore,out of breath all time, i could do most things only alot slower. Returned to work in a very limited capacity and more often than not just gave in and went home. Seeing as i could not work i did the ovious thing:), took two Aunts and my grandma whoÊdoes home dialisis, on journey down the Alaska Highway (i did really well most the pain fevers ect stayed away. I ended up having one extreme flare (prednisone was increased from 5 mgs i had weaned to up to 15mgs)condition inproved,had second flare witch was less severe(beleive it was caught in time, pred was increased 15mgs, Methotextrate added,vioxx as well (acually prescribed for my headcahes but worked well for the Arthritis more:). Today i am on 4 mgs of pred, 15mgs of meth, havent had the vioxx in few weeks,and seems ok. I am back at work, im a cement finisher yep hard work. I think i would consider myself in a med indused remmission as life is pretty wonderful again, i can only hope the dragons gone for long time. I know i have missed alot, but memory is weak EH!!!
