Stories

Last month, Cassie and Friends’ Juvenile Arthritis at School Puppet Show hit the road to bring juvenile arthritis education to the Okanagan! The special puppet show, which was offered free-of-charge to schools by Cassie and Friends with support from a $10,000 grant from the Telus Friendly Futures Foundation, tells the story of Cassie…

My daughter Elena was diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis at age 2. Arthritis? That was an elderly person’s disease, I thought. I had no idea the depth of the disease or what would lie ahead for us. First, she started with redness and swelling in her knees. I took her into the doctor…

For those of us who live each day affected by juvenile arthritis or another rheumatic disease, it can often feel like there is no one who can understand what we are going through. Although this can feel isolating, when we share our juvenile arthritis and other rheumatic disease stories with…

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…

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…

I want to let you know why I am walking this Charity Challenge for Cassie and Friends.  “Autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells and tissues. Any disease that results from such an aberrant immune response is termed an ‘autoimmune disease.’” My…

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…

In September of 2014, summer ended and our three daughters headed to back school – Anika into grade 4, Jaylene to grade 3 and Claire starting preschool. With school routines starting up again, life seemed back to normal. Then, out of the blue, Jaylene began complaining about a rash she…

Juvenile arthritis became a part of our family and our lives in September of 2006. One morning Cassie, then only 20 months old, wouldn’t walk when we took her out of her crib. After a ton of tests, we ultimately received the diagnosis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis. We couldn’t imagine…

I was diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis in the September of 2005. I have gone into remission twice in the past 7 years, and am currently in remission right now. Arthritis has caused me physical challenges but also mental ones. Having a chronic disease at such a young age caused me…

Zachary lived with the pain of arthritis for nine months and the symptoms of chronic disease for 19 months before finally being diagnosed with Systemic Onset Juvenile Arthritis at the age of 3 ½. At the time of diagnosis, we had no idea how extensive the impact of arthritis would…

It was 2006 and we were living a pretty idyllic life on Bowen Island with our three-year-old, Sam. At the end of the summer he developed a rash on his cheeks. Then wee craters on his knuckles and rash on his knees, elbows, and ankles started to appear. This got…