strep carrier????

[Guest guest]

Hello, I was wondering how many parents w/ younger children w/ either poly or

pauci articular JRA also have dealt with frequent bouts of strep? Lexi had

vaginal strep starting in about July (with no fever or warning signs until I saw

her skin while getting ready to go to the pool!!!), then had regular strep again

about mid August, again no warning signs, another bout of strep in late sept. ,

and now I just brought her into the ped yesterday to double check why she was

having a flare of her ankles hurting and low and behold - strep again!!!!!! She

NEVER complains of her throat hurting, no fever, and we only find this out when

we go in for a regular checkup or something else!!! Her tonsils are also HUGE ,

I can't believe her uvula can even move - but the rheumy conferred w/ the ped on

the phone yesterday and he said that w/ taking immuno-suppressant meds (Enbrel),

if we remove her tonsils that would leave her even more susceptible, so I'm not

sure what to think! They put her on antibiotic again, and in 10-12 days we are

to go back into the doc to have her re-swabbed to see if she still reports as

positive, and if she does they will take blood work (AGAIN, POOR KIDDO!!) to see

if she is just naturally a " strep carrier " . Does anyone know exactly what this

means for her or have experience with this? Ontop of JRA and hypothyroidism,

I'm not sure what else we're going to continue to find with her!!!!

Arvada mom to Lexi, 5 (either pauci or polyarticular JRA dx 1/05)

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[Guest guest]

Hi,

Have definately had my fair share of strep with two kids bouncing off the

walls.

To have the tonsils removed does require some thinking and weighing the pros

and cons.

at age 4 1/2 -5 on MTX and Enbrel developed enlarged tonsils ,and every

time he caught some mild cold, they would swell to the point of a dime size

opening.He would have alot of trouble swallowing his food and oral meds.

I took him to the largest ENT clinic in my city and the meds scared the Dr to

death.

Wound up at Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital with a wonderful Dr.

's ped rheumy at Vanderbilt did not want to rock the boat( was in

remission with medication).Dr. Lovell at Cincinatti Children's(who did

the Enbrel trials on kids)wanted the little boogers taken out.Anytime there is

an infection the immune system could go crazy again.In his case it turned out

his adnoids where chronicly infected and the root of all evil.The morning of

surgery she could see them in his throat,which is not normal.

Removing the tonsils will not prevent strep but should decrease the amount of

strep.

I haven't seen an increase in systemic wide infections since the

operation.His issues are with his skin.

Personaly,I think the whole thing about tonsils and how important they are is

a mixed decision.

Our visit with the second ENT was an hour alone with the Dr. just going over

's health history.

For us it just felt like the right decision.

Hugs

Becki and 8 systemic

[Guest guest]

Thanks for that input. We also are looking into whether Lexi has sleep apnea

possibly, and so that will also help us make a decision too! She had her

adenoids removed about 2 and a half years ago (right before we got the dx of

JRA), as well as ear tubes. They are concerned that her tonsils are so big, she

wakes multiple times a night consistently, and she snores some, so we're really

wondering about apnea. So the journey for answers goes on (sigh)...

Re: strep carrier????

Hi,

Have definately had my fair share of strep with two kids bouncing off the

walls.

To have the tonsils removed does require some thinking and weighing the pros

and cons.

at age 4 1/2 -5 on MTX and Enbrel developed enlarged tonsils ,and every

time he caught some mild cold, they would swell to the point of a dime size

opening.He would have alot of trouble swallowing his food and oral meds.

I took him to the largest ENT clinic in my city and the meds scared the Dr to

death.

Wound up at Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital with a wonderful Dr.

's ped rheumy at Vanderbilt did not want to rock the boat( was in

remission with medication).Dr. Lovell at Cincinatti Children's(who did

the Enbrel trials on kids)wanted the little boogers taken out.Anytime there is

an infection the immune system could go crazy again.In his case it turned out

his adnoids where chronicly infected and the root of all evil.The morning of

surgery she could see them in his throat,which is not normal.

Removing the tonsils will not prevent strep but should decrease the amount of

strep.

I haven't seen an increase in systemic wide infections since the

operation.His issues are with his skin.

Personaly,I think the whole thing about tonsils and how important they are is

a mixed decision.

Our visit with the second ENT was an hour alone with the Dr. just going over

's health history.

For us it just felt like the right decision.

Hugs

Becki and 8 systemic

[Guest guest]

If she is a strep carrier, she will always swab positive and no amount of

antibiotics are going to get rid of it, from what I understand, cause I am a

strep carrier too. When tonsils are so full of disease like that, they really

need to go. One it will make your daughter feel better, many have had them

removed and no worse for it but actually healthier, and if she is a carrier she

has potential to make others sick and then she can get a secondary infection. I

would get an appt with an ENT to have them check them out. My daughter had hers

out before she was diagnosed with JRA so I can't tell you anything on the JRA

side, but it certainly made her sleep better. You just can't get good rest when

you have huge tonsils blocking your airway. Poor kid!

e, mom to joe 19 poly + lupus

redfeather03@... wrote:

Hello, I was wondering how many parents w/ younger children w/ either

poly or pauci articular JRA also have dealt with frequent bouts of strep? Lexi

had vaginal strep starting in about July (with no fever or warning signs until I

saw her skin while getting ready to go to the pool!!!), then had regular strep

again about mid August, again no warning signs, another bout of strep in late

sept. , and now I just brought her into the ped yesterday to double check why

she was having a flare of her ankles hurting and low and behold - strep

again!!!!!! She NEVER complains of her throat hurting, no fever, and we only

find this out when we go in for a regular checkup or something else!!! Her

tonsils are also HUGE , I can't believe her uvula can even move - but the rheumy

conferred w/ the ped on the phone yesterday and he said that w/ taking

immuno-suppressant meds (Enbrel), if we remove her tonsils that would leave her

even more susceptible, so I'm not sure what to think!

They put her on antibiotic again, and in 10-12 days we are to go back into the

doc to have her re-swabbed to see if she still reports as positive, and if she

does they will take blood work (AGAIN, POOR KIDDO!!) to see if she is just

naturally a " strep carrier " . Does anyone know exactly what this means for her or

have experience with this? Ontop of JRA and hypothyroidism, I'm not sure what

else we're going to continue to find with her!!!!

Arvada mom to Lexi, 5 (either pauci or polyarticular JRA dx 1/05)

__________________________________________________________

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free access to millions of high-quality videos from across the web, free AOL

Mail and more.

[Guest guest]

My oldest one (no JRA) had recurrent bouts of strep until we had her

tonsils removed. She was 4 at the time and has had only one case of

strep since, when she was about 13. Taking the tonsils out really

helped, as she also got scarlet fever every time she had strep. She had

a case every month for nearly a year before the operation. Hope Lexi is

feeling better, Michele (19,spondy)

________________________________

From: [mailto: ] On

Behalf Of bound for london

Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2006 4:33 AM

Subject: Re: strep carrier????

If she is a strep carrier, she will always swab positive and no amount

of antibiotics are going to get rid of it, from what I understand, cause

I am a strep carrier too. When tonsils are so full of disease like that,

they really need to go. One it will make your daughter feel better, many

have had them removed and no worse for it but actually healthier, and if

she is a carrier she has potential to make others sick and then she can

get a secondary infection. I would get an appt with an ENT to have them

check them out. My daughter had hers out before she was diagnosed with

JRA so I can't tell you anything on the JRA side, but it certainly made

her sleep better. You just can't get good rest when you have huge

tonsils blocking your airway. Poor kid!

e, mom to joe 19 poly + lupus

redfeather03@... <mailto:redfeather03%40aol.com> wrote:

Hello, I was wondering how many parents w/ younger children w/ either

poly or pauci articular JRA also have dealt with frequent bouts of

strep? Lexi had vaginal strep starting in about July (with no fever or

warning signs until I saw her skin while getting ready to go to the

pool!!!), then had regular strep again about mid August, again no

warning signs, another bout of strep in late sept. , and now I just

brought her into the ped yesterday to double check why she was having a

flare of her ankles hurting and low and behold - strep again!!!!!! She

NEVER complains of her throat hurting, no fever, and we only find this

out when we go in for a regular checkup or something else!!! Her tonsils

are also HUGE , I can't believe her uvula can even move - but the rheumy

conferred w/ the ped on the phone yesterday and he said that w/ taking

immuno-suppressant meds (Enbrel), if we remove her tonsils that would

leave her even more susceptible, so I'm not sure what to think!

They put her on antibiotic again, and in 10-12 days we are to go back

into the doc to have her re-swabbed to see if she still reports as

positive, and if she does they will take blood work (AGAIN, POOR

KIDDO!!) to see if she is just naturally a " strep carrier " . Does anyone

know exactly what this means for her or have experience with this? Ontop

of JRA and hypothyroidism, I'm not sure what else we're going to

continue to find with her!!!!

Arvada mom to Lexi, 5 (either pauci or polyarticular JRA dx 1/05)

__________________________________________________________

Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and

security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from

across the web, free AOL Mail and more.

[Guest guest]

Just read this one - sorry! With my youngest, she had sleep apnea. When

we went in for our first appointment with the ENT for her the ped

suggested we bring a sleep tape. I recorded her when she was in her

deepest sleep (she too woke up frequently during the night and it caused

problems in school even. She was in first grade at the time.) and when

the ENT heard it she had no doubt that Jenn had sleep apnea and took out

tonsils and adenoids. It helped immediately and she began to sleep

through the night and felt better in school and everything. All I did to

make the tape was use a kid's tape recorder and a cassette, nothing

fancy. Good luck, Michele ( 19, spondy)

________________________________

From: [mailto: ] On

Behalf Of redfeather03@...

Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2006 10:52 PM

Subject: Re: strep carrier????

Thanks for that input. We also are looking into whether Lexi has sleep

apnea possibly, and so that will also help us make a decision too! She

had her adenoids removed about 2 and a half years ago (right before we

got the dx of JRA), as well as ear tubes. They are concerned that her

tonsils are so big, she wakes multiple times a night consistently, and

she snores some, so we're really wondering about apnea. So the journey

for answers goes on (sigh)...

Re: strep carrier????

Hi,

Have definately had my fair share of strep with two kids bouncing off

the

walls.

To have the tonsils removed does require some thinking and weighing the

pros

and cons.

at age 4 1/2 -5 on MTX and Enbrel developed enlarged tonsils ,and

every

time he caught some mild cold, they would swell to the point of a dime

size

opening.He would have alot of trouble swallowing his food and oral meds.

I took him to the largest ENT clinic in my city and the meds scared the

Dr to

death.

Wound up at Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital with a wonderful Dr.

's ped rheumy at Vanderbilt did not want to rock the boat( was

in

remission with medication).Dr. Lovell at Cincinatti Children's(who

did

the Enbrel trials on kids)wanted the little boogers taken out.Anytime

there is

an infection the immune system could go crazy again.In his case it

turned out

his adnoids where chronicly infected and the root of all evil.The

morning of

surgery she could see them in his throat,which is not normal.

Removing the tonsils will not prevent strep but should decrease the

amount of

strep.

I haven't seen an increase in systemic wide infections since the

operation.His issues are with his skin.

Personaly,I think the whole thing about tonsils and how important they

are is

a mixed decision.

Our visit with the second ENT was an hour alone with the Dr. just going

over

's health history.

For us it just felt like the right decision.

Hugs

Becki and 8 systemic