My Cousin

I received this letter from my mother this evening about my cousin Andrea (she's my double cousin and the one to whom I'm closest. She is 29 and has had JRA since she was 7):

Thought I should let you know that Andrea has been in the hospital: she had the "flu" over Thanksgiving, as you know, but she continues to have the numbness and tingling around her mouth and in her hands and feet. She got so bad that she couldn't walk on her own--had to have support from Mike or Marilyn. They decided to hospitalize her and thought she might have MS (multiple sclerosis), but they did an MRI that they feel rules that out. They think she has vestibulitis (inflammation of the vestibula in the inner ear). That could account for her lack of balance and dizziness, but the neuropathy is really not associated with vestibulitis, so they're not really sure what it going on. The neuropathy can be a side effect of the medication she's been taking for her rheumatoid arthritis, but she's been off of it long enough that the symptoms should be gone if that was the cause. They are putting her on Prednisone, again, and hope that will take care of the problem; it certainly should take care of the vestibulitis, but I don't know about the neuropathy. They discharged her from the hospital this afternoon, but she still can't walk on her own. She is rather scared, to say the least, and is very concerned about her classes. She was supposed to take a final today, but obviously couldn't and I'm not sure she will be in shape to do it any time soon. I'll try to keep you posted.
Mom/Aunt Jan