Stories
Every young person’s journey with rheumatic disease is different. These stories share the lived experiences of youth who are navigating challenges, building confidence, and finding their voice.
Through connection, support, and community, these young people are showing what’s possible — and helping others feel less alone along the way.
Becki Zerr: No Stranger to JA and Uveitis
Uveitis (inflammation of the eye) is a serious complication occurring in 20% of children with Juvenile Arthritis, a condition that is hard to diagnose without regular eye screening. Treatment of Uveitis can often be aggressive, sometimes calling for eye drops multiple times a day in order to prevent vision loss…
Diagnosed. By Trish Peters
Trish is an inspiring community leader and one who has already accomplished so much in her young life. Having completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce, she is now pursuing a Master’s Degree in the Netherlands, demonstrating her unwavering dedication to her education and personal growth. Trish’s unique life experiences have…
Uveitis: Scarlett’s Story
In Spring of 2018, my 6 year old daughter was complaining of neck pain. It was mistaken as pain from her twice a week swimming lessons. One morning in August that same year she asked me to look at her knee because it was really hurting. I was shocked to…
Autoinflammatory vs. Autoimmune – What’s the difference?
Autoinflammatory vs Autoimmune Diseases Coined less than 20 years ago, the word autoinflammatory is often confused with autoimmune—so, what’s the difference? When we think of the word autoimmune, most people understand that it means your body is attacking itself the way it attacks invaders, like bacteria and viruses. These autoimmune responses…
Self-care, self-injections, and other self-management tips from our youth panelists.
The Virtual Youth Panel event is now available for viewing on Youtube and IGTV. You’ll find timestamps of the video on Youtube to direct you to the questions/answers you’ll want to hear the most. This is an excellent resource to share with relatives, friends, sports coaches and teachers to help them understand life…
My Journey with Rare Disease
With August being Auto-inflammatory Awareness Month, we connected with Nicole Pereira to share her journey with a very rare form of Vasculitis called Adenosine Deaminase 2 Deficiency. After wondering why her legs were covered in bruises from simply watching TV, Nicole realized something was seriously wrong.Through the challenges, she’s learned…
Emerson’s Story: “ERA won’t take over my life”
Shortly after his 13th birthday, Emerson started experiencing a lot of pain and stiffness in his hands, knees and wrists. After a few months of doctors appointments and a lot of questions, he was diagnosed with Enthesitis-Related Arthritis, a type of arthritis that involves swelling and inflammation of the connective…
Jaylene- SJIA + The 2020 Prime Family Bottle Drive
As part of Team Cassie + Friends last year, Jaylene and her family raised over $11,000 thanks to donations from their annual bottle drive. The 4th Annual Prime Family Bottle Drive takes place on Saturday June 6th in Langley, BC and we need your help to make this year a success! Can’t drop your bottles off…
Mental Health Week 2020: Alison’s journey with mental health and arthritis
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…
Lia vs. Lupus
May is Lupus Awareness Month and we reached out to our friend, Lia who is 13 years living with lupus, a rare autoimmune disease. After being diagnosed in 2018, Lia believes everything happens for a reason and there is always a positive in all events of life. Thank you, Lia,…
May is Lupus Awareness Month: What you need to know about this rare autoimmune disease.
May is Lupus Awareness Month and we reached out to Dr. Lori Tucker of BC Children’s Hospital to learn more about this rare autoimmune disease. Thank you, Lori for providing us with this important information. By: Dr. Lori Tucker Systemic lupus erythematosus (also known as ‘lupus’ or SLE) is a…
Brick by Brick: Youth leaders build the patient experience they never had in hopes of helping others
Author: Zoya Jiwa, YLC Program Designer and founder of As We Are Style – a blog about facing health challenges with courage and style. Last weekend, Cassie + Friends’ Youth Leadership Committee got together for our first team retreat on a surprisingly sunny afternoon (thank you, Vancouver!) with a lot of excitement…