Check up

I went for my 6 monthly check up this week at the hospital. I didn't see my usual doctor but I saw the consultant this time, only the second time I've met her. She's really nice and remembered me from before. There wasn't really much to say, although I chuckled when she asked me: 'So, do you think the hydroxychloroquine is helping?'. Haha, surely they're the ones that are meant to tell me that? I said I didn't know and she laughed and said 'that's the million pound question isn't it? we sometimes never know if it's the drugs that help or if you would've got better without them.' But she then said to me that she normally likes to have people symptom free for a year before she lets them reduce dosages. To this I replied that I wasn't worried about taking my drugs and I wouldn't want to stop, unless I was totally symptom free (which I'm not) for a good 3-4 years. To be honest I doubt I'll ever get to that point, and I am not aiming or even daring to hope to be drug free. I'm a realist. But my next appointment is at the end of June and I do hope that I will continue to stay stable and pain free.