JIA

Three-year-old Katherine can keep up with other kids now, but that wasn’t always the case… When Alana noticed her daughter was limping at the playground, she didn’t know what to think – especially when the limp didn’t go away. She decided to bring her to a doctor to be examined.…

Hi! My name is Hayley. I was diagnosed with JIA at the age of 13. Around age 12 I realized that I could not straighten my fingers. Young me was very medically inclined, so after some googling, I diagnosed myself with arthritis. It took a long time to convince the…

Make lemonade! At least that’s what Jacob Shiell did when he was diagnosed with Systemic Idiopathic Juvenile Arthritis (SJIA) on his eighth birthday in October 2021.  Jacob’s journey began with unexplained foot pain and swelling. Over the next few weeks, the pain and swelling worsened and spread to his right…

We have been asking youth with rheumatic disease to share their story! Sharing stories helps build community and connections. We hope that Jenna’s amazing story inspires you to share your own story.  My name is Jenna Kedy. I am 18 years old and live in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  As a…

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…

Addie, Prince George, BC14 years old, Psoriatic JIA I used to hike and play school sports like basketball and volleyball. Now, I’m not able to because my arthritis hurts too much in my elbow, ankles and knees. This last year I started on the volleyball team, but had to stop…

Scarlett’s journey started at about 16 months old. We noticed that in the mornings, she would just sit for up to two hours. Did not want to stand or walk – she almost seemed like she had to ‘warm up’ first. After about a week of no improvement, I took…

A year and a half ago our daughter was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. Her pain and psoriasis started about a year before that but between misdiagnosis and chalking things up to growing pains, we had no idea JIA was even a thing. It all came to a head after a…

I was diagnosed with JIA 25 years ago. Twenty-five years ago I was 13 years old and newly diagnosed with JIA or as it was known in my day, JRA (Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis).  When I was a teen I found a lot of peer support through a Juvenile Arthritis Physiotherapy…

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…

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…

Caden was diagnosed with JIA when she was just 3 years old. When we first noticed her limping, we thought she may have hurt her knee skiing as we had just taken her for her first lessons. Then one morning I saw her sneaking down the stairs from her bedroom,…