Resources

“If you told me a few years ago that I would be pursuing my dream of playing post-secondary volleyball at Dalhousie University, I would have laughed out loud because at the time it seemed near to impossible.” Meet Ella. In April of 2020, I was diagnosed with a rheumatic condition…

“I was known as the ‘girl who gets sick easily’ within my family. This really impacted my mental health and acceptance for JIA for years.” Did you know? Living with Juvenile Arthritis (JA)and other childhood rheumatic diseases like Lupus and JDM can increase your child’s risk of depression and anxiety. A…

Hi! My name is Cassie! That name might sound familiar because my parents started Cassie + Friends after I was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis at 20 months. I am now 17 years old, in grade 12, and taking a break from filling out university applications as I write this.…

Fun fact: Did you know that the microbiome plays a key role in how our immune system functions and in our overall health? In fact, around 70% of our body’s immune cells are located in the gut! To shed some light on what that could mean in the context of JIA,…

Hello there! My name is Emily Bessey. I am 19 years old and live in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. My journey with JIA and TMJ started way back in 2009 when I was just 6 years old. I would go to school limping, hardly able to walk, but return home…

My name is Matthew Sholdice. I am 19 years old, and I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when I was 3 years old. I’ll start with a little bit about myself. I was born and raised in London, Ontario. I enjoy reading, working out, and watching TV and anime. Stranger…

For Lupus Awareness Month, we asked new C+F Board Member, Dr. Deborah Levy, to share five facts about childhood-onset Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (cSLE). Dr. Levy is the Clinical Director, Division of Rheumatology at the Hospital for Sick Children (“SickKids”) in Toronto and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University…

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…

Parenting is joyful, frustrating, rewarding and exhausting. Parenting a child with a chronic disease gives you a double dose of it all; you face challenges most parents never dream of. You juggle doctors, therapists, hospitals, insurance companies, pharmacies and the list goes on. Then there are the emotional and behavioural…

“Every furrow of her brow makes me want to stop” If you have ever struggled to give your child an injection or to manage your child’s – or your own – emotions about their treatments, you are not alone!  In the lead up to our Methotrexate session, we talked with Yvonne…

Meet Mackenzie! Mackenzie Riddell is a 14 year old synchronized swimmer who was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic rheumatoid arthritis (JIA) when she was 3 years old. On Saturday, January 30th (4:30 pm PST/7:30 pm EST), she will be sharing her story and advice for staying active at the upcoming Physical Activity…

Middle school and high school can take some time for everyone to get used to, especially if you are a student with arthritis. Larger schools with multiple classrooms, more teachers and classmates, and a heavy backpack full of textbooks, can make it a challenging environment to communicate with others about…