Me and Hubby went to his visit and learned a lot. They have sent a request to start him on Rituxan. It is somewhat new to the Myositis world but has shown to be very effective for MS/MD and luekeima patients. Again, it is expensive so hopefully insurance will cover it!! Its an infusion so no pills! You only do it twice and then wait for 3-4 months to see if the body responds.They have told him to reduce the prednisone currently at 40mg by 5mg every two weeks. Even though they know he will be in pain and his CK will go up... we have to try and get him off the prednisone. They wont mind a 500 point increase to his ck but if it is more like a 1000 increase... he will need to go back to Hopkins for a different game plan, if there is one. They do not recommend MTX anymore, they prefer to use cellcept, easier on the body than MTX down the road. The Dr. was confident that this is what has been working for resistant myositis patients so we are hopeful. They are also running what is called a myositis panel to see what "strand" of DM he has. There are some that go after the hart, the lungs, the brain. We are waiting to see which one he has so we can start taking preventative measures now, to protect those organs. Didn't even know that! Those take months to get back. SO now we have to wait to see if the insurance approves the Rituxan so he can wait to see if this works or not.... fingers crossed! Feeling very blessed to have gone on this trip... now we know where we can go for help!