May 2020

Mental Health Week 2020: Alison’s journey with mental health and arthritis

By |May 7th, 2020|Mental Health, News, Teen Transitions, TMJ|

Alison Legge is a member of the Cassie + Friends Youth Leader Committee. She spoke at Cassie + Friends Family Day 2016 as a youth champion, speaking about the impact chronic disease has had on her mental health. A lot has happened since then, and Alison has learned she is not alone and there [...]

January 2019

School Toolkit: Gym class with JIA

By |January 17th, 2019|Advice, Elementary, High School, School, School Toolkit|

For many children with JIA or other rheumatic diseases, physical challenges at school can be huge barriers, particularly when it comes to gym class. In a recent study, researchers found that 38% of kids with JIA were unable to participate in gym with their peers. Paired with misunderstanding and lack of knowledge on the [...]

November 2018

3 tips for travelling with a child with a flare

By |November 9th, 2018|Advice, Pain Tips, Stories|

As stressful and painful as experiencing a flare can already be at home, the idea of travelling with a flare may sometimes seem downright impossible. With some help however, you and your child can still enjoy taking a trip together. These are Cassie and Friends community member and mother Tanya Cassidy Irwin's three tips for [...]

Emily’s story: Navigating pain, planes and biologics

By |November 9th, 2018|Pain Tips, Stories|

Tanya Cassidy Irwin is a mother and Cassie and Friends community member from Langley, BC. This is her story of navigating pain, travel, medication and the unknown throughout her daughter Emily's journey with Oligoarticular JIA.    In September 2015 there was the most subtle of hitches in our daughter Emily's step. Within three weeks she [...]

April 2018

Alison’s story: Navigating JIA mental health

By |April 16th, 2018|Family Day, Mental Health, Post- Secondary, Stories, YLN|

At Family Day 2016, Cassie and Friends volunteer Alison Legge gave a powerful speech about Juvenile Arthritis and the effect it has on mental health. This February, Alison underwent bilateral TMJ replacement surgery to ease the pain in her jaw, and is currently having a speedy recovery. She is now the chair of Cassie and Friends’ [...]

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