October 2023

Lily’s Journey to Diagnosis, Methotrexate, and Finding A Community of Support

By |October 19th, 2023|Injection, JIA, Medication, Methotrexate, Newly Diagnosed, School, School Toolkit, TMJ|

Meet Lily. One morning, at the young age of 2, our daughter Lily woke up limping and her left knee looked slightly swollen. She didn't seem to show that she was in pain, but was refraining from putting weight on her left leg. We had no idea what happened and didn't recall any [...]

May 2022

Read Why I’m a Team C+F Youth Ambassador

By |May 16th, 2022|About JIA, Advice, JIA, Physical Activity, Resources, School, Stories|

In early 2022 we launched the Team Cassie + Friends Youth Ambassador program to support youth in raising awareness of JA and other rheumatic diseases within their school community. Soleil is one of our first Team C+F Youth Ambassadors! This month she will give a presentation to her entire school on Juvenile Arthritis and [...]

February 2022

Artist, Lacrosse Player, Friend, Big Sister – How I Learned to Love Who I Am

By |February 10th, 2022|JIA, School, Stories, Vancouver|

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 [...]

January 2021

Meet Mackenzie: JA Won’t Stop Me!

By |January 18th, 2021|Physical Activity, School, Stories|

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 with Rheumatic Disease [...]

August 2020

5 Helpful tips for attending high school with arthritis

By |August 27th, 2020|High School, School, School Toolkit|

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 your arthritis pain and [...]

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 [...]

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