Diagnosis: Juvenile Arthritis

Long story short, Jane has had a lot of pain in her knees since November. They hurt a lot in the mornings to the point where she is limping, and occasionally she would wake up in the night crying because her knees hurt so badly. She has been sick off and on since November as well which had me concerned that this may be more than just growing pains. A lot of Dr.'s told me that there was absolutely nothing wrong with Jane's knees and that she probably just fell down and injured it. It has been so frustrating tyring to get these Dr.'s to listen to me and not to have them act like I'm just a mother that is overreacting. A while back a Dr. at an Urgent Care mentioned arthritis and that got me thinking. My mom's friend has arthritis and I thought it was funny that Jane's symptoms were similar to hers in some ways. So, I looked all over the Internet and all roads led to Juvenile Arthritis.

Robert found a Children's Rheumatory Specialist in a nearby town. Without a referral, we made an appointment. Sure enough, Jane has been diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. It's also called Juvenile Rheumatiod Arthritis. When the Dr. told me I just wanted to burst in to tears. I felt terrible for Jane and nervous for what this would mean for her. There was also a sense of relief having someone validate my concerns and to be willing to help Jane feel better. The Dr. referred me to Arthritis.org which has tons of great information.

Anyway, she will be on a medication called Naposyn twice a day to reduce the swelling and joint pain. She has to go to an eye specialist to get some testing done. Apparently, there is some eye condition that usually goes hand in hand with juvenile arthritis that can't be detected with a regular eye exam. Another interesting little fact about juvenile arthritis is that when it comes this young, it shows up a lot in blond haired, blue eyed girls.
Jane got some blood work done today just so he can make sure there isn't something he is missing. She was a brave girl. It really hurt her.

Anyway, most children eventually outgrow this type of arthritis, but it could be years, or could be something she will have long term. Right now she has arthritis in both of her knees. He said it is possible that it could spread to other joints.

That's the basics I guess. I'm still trying to take in all the info I got today. As I look back, it was a blessing in disguise that Jane kept getting sick because I may have not been as quick to act on the knee pain if the two hadn't come together. Luckily, we caught this early and we can take care of our sweet Jane.