#KidsCantWait: Christina's + Isabella's Journeys Hi, my name is Joscelyn Daskalopoulos, and this is our family’s story of living with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) — a disease that affects two of our three children. Our journey began when our second child, Christina, was diagnosed at just one year old. She [...]
#KidsCantWait: Olivia's Journey Our daughter’s journey with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) has been a difficult process but one that has taught us many things, including resilience and patience. Olivia was diagnosed at 15 months of age but started showing symptoms around 10 months. She first presented with symptoms of neck [...]
#KidsCantWait: Harley's Journey Harley is our tiny warrior. Just after turning 2, in August 2022, Harley started having difficulty walking one day out of nowhere. It pained her to tears and she had to hold onto someone to walk or be carried. She was on Amoxicillin for an ear infection, [...]
Where Are They Now: Zahra's Story In this special Rare Disease Month edition of “Where Are They Now”, we caught up with Zahra Alidina. In 2023, Zahra shared what life was like living with an autoinflammatory disease that is so rare it doesn’t even have a name. We’re so honoured to share this [...]
Hope for Harley, Hope for All How one parent turned despair into action Meet one of our new parent ambassadors, Bobby-Jo! Last year, Bobby-Jo shared with us her daughter Harley’s journey with JIA, and why she was running for Team Cassie + Friends Toronto. Today, we are so happy to announce [...]
We are so excited to introduce you to our newest parent ambassadors, Tamara and Bobby-Jo, from our McMaster and SickKids centres! Our parent ambassadors are often the first point of contact for newly diagnosed families and are there for anyone who might be struggling or need a hand finding resources. They [...]
Building Community and Mental Health Support for Students with Rheumatic Diseases: Ciara’s Story Living with a chronic condition like a rheumatic disease can be especially challenging for young people, not only physically but also mentally. It's no surprise that 40% of youth diagnosed with a rheumatic disease experience symptoms of anxiety, depression, or [...]
In my 7 years of living with Ankylosing Spondylitis since the age of 21, I’ve had to teach a lot of people quite a few things about my illness. It’s a relatively unheard-of form of arthritis in day-to-day life. Most people have heard of Rheumatoid Arthritis, but not usually [...]
Radiant Resilience: Isla the JDM Warrior It was fall of 2021 and Isla was 6 years old. Her life was pretty much centred around her unwavering excitement for Halloween and being able to wear her unicorn costume to go trick-or-treating with her best friend, Alice. Over the month of October, [...]
Congrats, Dr. Andrea Knight! The Cassie + Friends community is proud to celebrate Dr. Andrea Knight for receiving a prestigious research grant from the CARRA-Arthritis Foundation. Dr. Knight is the only lead investigator from Canada to receive an award this year - which is a big deal! Dr. Knight [...]
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