Pemphigus Vulgaris and Las Vegas

There is intercellular staining on monkey esophagus at a titer of 1:640. There is no staining with IgG on salt split skin. The Elisa for the anti-desmoglein-3 is positive. The Elisa for for anti-desmoglein-1 is negative. These findings are consistent with the diagnosis of pemphigus vulgaris.

Olaf's diagnosis was confirmed today as Pemphigus Vulgaris. He is now on 80 mg of Prednisone to try to get his symptoms under control. Prednisone can be an awful medicine with bad side effects, but the goal is to get his scalp and mouth healed. Then he will hopefully go down in dosage and be put on Imuran or a drug similar to that. His scalp looks awful right now and he is losing his hair where the sores are. We are hoping that this treatment plan begins to give him some relief from the debilitating pain he is constantly in.

On a much brighter note, Olaf and I spent three glorious nights alone in Las Vegas, Nevada. We had a blast walking the strip, eating at the Stratosphere and looking at the fountains at the Bellagio. Las Vegas has changed so much in 20 years and we truly enjoyed our time away from the children. We need to do it more often. Here is a picture of us in the Top of the World Restaurant in the Stratosphere.



This trip solidified the fact that I don't want anymore children. It was way too much fun and I am too old and selfish to have anymore. I have decided we will do one family trip and one couple trip a year. The end.