My mom's diagnosed with Wegener's Granulomatosis

[woz]

Hi Jason, cant say much more than what has been said up above, read all the threads here, the more you know, the easy it will be to understand what your mother is going through, and you will be able to help her a lot more, and just remember that no one person here has exactly the same symptoms as someone else, so ask you doctor lots of questions, write them down before you go.

All the best
Regards Woz....

[debhaz22]

Hi Jason,
Welcome to "the family"! I, too, was recently diagnosed and the people here have helped me immensely. Just ask, ask, ask. If we don't know the answers we'll help you find them out.
Deb H

[drz]

Serious Wegs means Cytoxan or Rituxan, Milder cases or for maintenance means Azathioprine, Methotrexate, or Cellcept. Prednisone or some steroid is almost also given in various dosages depending upon severity and body's response to treatment with preceding drugs.

All have potential side effects and risks but are far safer than trying to get along with no drugs or using the drugs at too low of dosage to be effective. Once in a drug induced remission many people try taper off some or all of the drugs and about one in five can do so successfully and remain in remission for more than three years without any drugs.

Most people will have a flare or return of symptoms within two years of stopping their maintenance meds and have to go back on some treatment meds again. The goal is to generally find the lowest dosage of meds that allow a person to get by with minimal residual symptoms.

[Alysia]

just to echo all of the above, and to welcome you Jason please invite your mom to read and write here....

[windchime]

Welcome to you and your mom Jason. I echo all that has already been said, but wanted to say hi. Dig into the archives as they are a valuable source of information. Everyone has a different story, but you will see some common threads in many of them. Good luck to you both and feel free to ask any questions you need too.

[annekat]

Jason, what Cindy says is so true, Wegs is a complicated disease that shows itself in many ways, and no two cases are alike. If you read about a lot of different people's cases, you will no doubt find some that are similar to your mom's. You will also find encouragement that your mom can get better and back to a fairly normal life. And yes on the questions, keep asking them.