Laura Burk Benson

The NIAID - National Institutes of Allergy Infectious Disease is the institute that has been helping my husband (Colin Benson) with DRESS Syndrome .  We are so blessed to have a strong team of dedicated health professionals in his life and caring for him. In May of 2018 the NIAID (after much research and analysis of Colin's specific condition) offered to take Colin into their full time care and hospitalize him with a trial drug, Tofacitinib.  They were also going to try anti-viral therapy for his HHV-6 reactivation . Tofacitinib is also known as xeljanz.  https://www.xeljanz.com/   Xeljanz is primarily used for Rheumatoid Arthritis.  It is a strong and powerful drug, one that comes with a black box warning label. Our family was made aware of this drug around the time he was hospitalized at Walter Reed Medical Military Center (WRNMMC) in December 2017.  The medical team at WRNMMC had tried various other drugs and these medicines just weren't stron...

NIH Research Matters -  March 24, 2020 Edition COVID-19 is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation, and we at NIH are doing everything we can toward the development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. You can find the latest public health information from CDC at  www.coronavirus.gov  and the latest research information from NIH at  www.nih.gov/coronavirus . Meanwhile, science continues to progress on many other fronts, and we will continue to try to bring you stories across a wide range of topics. C oronavirus may remain on surfaces for days Scientists found that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can be detected in aerosols for up to three hours and on plastic and stainless steel surfaces for up to three days. To Learn More: https://www.nih.gov/health-information/coronavirus

Are you looking for a connection to others and to God? In case you have missed church this morning, please consider joining us at Risen Savior, in Orlando, FL http://risensaviorwels.net/ Our Pastor has recorded his service for us to participate safely from home. Keep safe and healthy. God Bless you 20-03-22 Risen Savior Lent 4 from Steven Blumer on Vimeo .

Corticosteroid Step Down Medical Information:  Hydrocortisone/ Steroids  March 15, 2020 We were instructed by the endocrinology department at the Lake Nona VA to continue with Colin's Steroid Taper.   We were instructed to continue with his Cortisone (steroids) taper, or  "step down" and his doctors put a plan together that would cover the next few tapers.  We would be stepping him down four weeks at a time.  He began this schedule on January 26, 2020; however we traveled a little (to meet our grandchild) so he was too exhausted to start the next taper.  We moved it back two weeks. Today he is on: (Listing immune suppression medicine only) 15 mg of Hydrocortisone 10 mg in the morning and 5 mg in the evening. It is good that he is off Prednisone, but his body is still not completely clear of his rash and itchiness.    Currently his abdomen and legs down to his feet are covered in red skin rashes and bumps. ...