"Throughout all of these experiences that I have had with Cassie + Friends, there is one throughline: Understanding. Understanding is a concept not to be underestimated." Meet Ciara. It was after after my body couldn’t row anymore, my hands couldn’t hold the pencil, my joints ached in pain, and after my diagnosis of [...]
"Explaining this to fellow highschoolers was difficult, often times just resulting in being the butt of the joke. It was hard finding someone who understood and could relate." Meet Ryan. I first started noticing symptoms as early as age 12. At that time, many just advised me that I was going through some growing [...]
Cassie + Friends is proud to introduce our first-ever practicum student, Jillian Wickert. Welcome, Jillian! Jillian is a student at the University of Alberta (U of A) doing a Master’s Degree in Community Engagement within the School of Public Health. Jillian not only has an interest in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) and chronic illness, [...]
I don’t know if there can be a ‘typical’ journey for a young child who receives a Juvenile Arthritis diagnosis. But this is Linden’s story so far. When Linden got sick at 18 months old, we thought it was just a cold. But then came an unusual rash and his walking deteriorated. We visited [...]
Hello, my name is Grace Parker Palidwor. I was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis when I was 18 months old. In the first few years of my diagnosis, I don’t remember much except that I believed that every child was exactly like me. I believed that all my friends woke up with stiff joints [...]
A vital part of the work we do at Cassie + Friends stems from our involvement in important research in the pediatric rheumatic (PR) disease community. Over the past decade, we’ve helped endow a research chair, fund a new international post-doc, build one of only three PR labs in Canada, launch a pain-app and [...]
In September of 2014, summer ended and our three daughters headed to back school - Anika into grade 4, Jaylene to grade 3 and Claire starting preschool. With school routines starting up again, life seemed back to normal. Then, out of the blue, Jaylene began complaining about a rash she had noticed on her [...]
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