Hey! My name is Josie Fratarcangeli, and I am from Woodstock, Ontario. I was diagnosed with Polyarticular Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis when I was 4 years old. I am currently 17 years old – and have just “graduated” from London Health Science’s Pediatric Medical Day Unit (PMDU) where I got my monthly infusions of Remicade [...]
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 adults in my life [...]
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 knee, elbow and wrist. [...]
Hello there! My name is Emily Bessey. I am 19 years old and live in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. My journey with JIA and TMJ started way back in 2009 when I was just 6 years old. I would go to school limping, hardly able to walk, but return home at the end of [...]
Canadian Pediatric Rheumatology Families in the Spotlight! We want to thank every parent and youth who participated in our survey to find out more about Canadian families' preferences and experiences with Telemedicine practices during COVID-19. Your results have been published as a scientific research paper - here's our summary below and a link to [...]
If you follow Cassie + Friends to some degree of closeness, you are probably familiar with our much-used phrase “Juvenile Arthrtis and other rheumatic diseases.” Why say this long-fangled phrase when the majority of people that Cassie + Friends supports have Juvenile Arthrtis? When 10,000 of the 24,000 children in youth with rheumatic disease are [...]
Over the last six years, the Prime Family Bottle Drive has raised an astounding $80,000+ in support of Cassie + Friends research and support programs. Now they are ready to pass the bottle one last time through a legacy partnership with BC Return It and Regional Recycling Depots across the province! If you live in [...]
July 2022 Update: Medication Alert Dear Community, Please find below an important message from our Medical Advisory Committee on behalf of Canadian Pediatric Rheumatologists. ***MEDICAL ADVISORY UPDATE*** July 2022 Re: Actemra (tocilizumab) Shortage There is a shortage of the subcutaneous form of Actemra (tocilizumab) in Canada. This is likely to last several weeks at [...]
In honour of Autoinflammatory month this August, we are introducing the members of Cassie + Friends’ new Canadian Systemic Autoinflammatory Patient Advisory Group (Can-SAID). We are beginning with autoinflammatory patient and parent and Can-SAID board chair, Ian Stedman. Ian Stedman is an autoinflammatory patient and parent. Always sick as a child, Ian had a [...]
An exciting raffle is coming soon! Help Cassie + Friends transform kids' lives through cutting-edge research, education and unprecedented connections for the childhood rheumatic disease community across BC. You might just win 3 nights at the luxurious Fairmount Chateau Whistler. Please email ciara@cassieandfriends.ca if you have any questions. [...]
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