Laura Burk Benson

October 7,2019 My husband has a very unusual, prolonged undiagnosed medical condition that is chronic. They have temporarily labeled his condition as immune dysregulation and chronic "DRESS Syndrome" with a reactivation of HHV-6 virus.   There is a  HHV-6 Foundation  website that contains "some" information that is helpful to us, but again there has been no one found in the world that has what my husband has.   So this entire process has been scary, stressful, confusing and challenging.  Which is why we continue to pray for God to watch over Colin and to heal him. Today's Update: Colin had an appointment with National Institutes of Health (NIH) to review the immune protocol and the results so far of this experimental medication that he is taking. He has had testing twice on his adrenal function to see if it is safe to take him completely off Prednisone and switch to Hydrocortisone.  At that time, he was not y...

VEGETARIAN MONTH I am a vegetarian.   I have been nearly all of my life.   I am that guest at dinner that can't find anything to eat on the menu.  I am that person that suddenly gets interrogated and questioned about my choice to not eat animal products, and then this becomes the ONLY topic discussed at dinner.  I am that person that can't eat at anyone's house.  I am that person that offends others when they ask me to try at dish that isn't vegetarian. I am NOT that person who educates others in a gross or scary way.  Well there was this one time, that I sat my children down for the "talk."  In our house that talk was about our pets, zoos and what we eat. We all know where it comes from.  I just chose not to eat it, ever.  Honestly, I just feel so bad for the animals, so I can't do it.  I can't stand the smell of it cooking.  I hate the hype for a certain food that looks, smells and tastes like meat....

Prednisone Step Down Medical Information:   Prednisone / Steroids   February 13, 2019 Colin had his appointment with National Institutes of Health (NIH) to review the immune protocol and experimental medication that we hope will replace all other immune suppression medicine today, February 13, 2019.   We were instructed to continue with his Prednisone (steroids) taper, or  "step down" and his doctors put a plan together that would cover the next few tapers. Today he is on: (Listing immune suppression medicine only) 10 mg of Prednisone  75 mg of Cyclosporine  1000 mg of Cellcept 10 mg of Tofacitinib First the steroid will be reduced (February 14) and then we will reduce the cellcept by 500 mg off his morning dose (February 28) and then hopefully is everything is going well and he is able to continue tapering on schedule we plan to reduce the steroids down to 8 mg (March 14) So, in tomorrow's medication I will...

This February (2019) we are still living in "Tranquility Hall" otherwise known as the Wounded Warrior Barracks on NSA Bethesda at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. We are really missing our family this month, so  I found some family photos to share in my blog.   First is Colin and our daughter, Cassandra at her Graduation , next is Colin and I at a Navy Ball in Orlando, FL, then Colin and I in Jacksonville, then the last photo is of our Son-in-Law, Kemsley and our Daughter, Alexandra 

Immune Suppression  Step Down Medical Information:   Cyclosporine   January 24, 2019 Colin had his appointment with National Institutes of Health (NIH) to review the immune protocol and experimental medication on January 9, 2019.  A lot of medical information was shared with us concerning his  T cells  and tregs ( Regulatory T cell )  as well as his IgG ( Immunoglobulin G ).  Most of the information is too hard for us to understand completely, but we understand that doctors are tracking all of his numbers as well as his HHV-6 ( Human herpesvirus 6 ) reactivation. We were instructed to continue with his Prednisone (steroids) taper, or  "step down" as well as try a Cyclosporine step down. He was on 12.5 mg of Prednisone and 100 mg of Cyclosporine  First the steroid for two weeks, and then reduce the cyclosporine by only 25 mg off his evening dose. So, in Colin's morning the following day (January 10) I reduced his...

Prednisone Step Down Medical Information:   Prednisone / Steroids   January 9, 2019 Today we are back" home" living in the wounded warrior barracks (Tranquility Hall) at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD Colin had his appointment with National Institutes of Health (NIH) to review the immune protocol and experimental medication yesterday.  A lot of medical information was shared with us concerning his T cells and tregs ( Regulatory T cell )  as well as his IgG ( Immunoglobulin G ).  Most of the information is too hard for us to understand completely, but we understand that doctors are tracking all of his numbers as well as his HHV-6 ( Human herpesvirus 6 ) reactivation. We were instructed to continue with his Prednisone (steroids) taper, or  "step down"  So, in Colin's morning dose today I reduced his  Prednisone  to 10 mg.   At the onset of his illness Colin was initially taking 125 m...

The Benson Ohana will be heading to Texas in a couple of weeks.... Checking out the area for work (JAFRA, Game Plan Media Events, Game Plan Local) and also to possibly move here when Colin retires. Starting and ending in Dallas (traveling through Waco, Austin, San Antonio, Houston and back to Dallas) ISO- Looking for friends and family and recommendations in Dallas, Waco, San Antonio and Houston, Texas! In a few short weeks I will be in Dallas for a JAFRA conference. Jan 16-19 staying in the Dallas area Laura Benson's Jafra Page Then, Colin will be joining me afterwards, so we can explore the area looking for a possible new home after his retirement. We will be in the area for another week checking out various local areas and neighborhoods. While traveling around the cities in the area I will be continuing to work with  Game Plan Media Events  and  Game Plan Local  as well as building up some new pages that I just started for local area...