Remicade good…

Jake ended up having about 11 gram bags of prednisone his senior year. It is a brutal drug, and it took months to wean him off of it. He started an IV drug called Remicade before he was discharged. We cautiously took him home, and the plan was a monthly infusion of Remicade.  He planned to return to school for 2nd semester. My mom was living in the hospital by that time, and we intended to have Thanksgiving in the cafeteria. At first we tried to keep Jake’s illness from her, but she was used to me visiting once or twice a day. I finally had to tell her. I could see the spark go out of her that day, and her health continued to decline. Dave and Jake decided to grill steaks on Thanksgiving because the hospital seemed too risky for his compromised immune system.  Things were looking hopeful. Jake’s second infusion left him feeling “Remicade good”.  He went to see my mom in the hospital.  The look on her face when she realized it was “her Jake” was priceless.  She forgot by the next day that she had seen him, and she was back to fretting. Within a few days, “Remicade good” was wearing off. His headache returned, and he was speaking jibberish again.