Hello, My name is Emma Linsley, and I am from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. When I was 15 years old, I was diagnosed with JIA. Along with needing to learn to manage the physical ailments of the disease, this diagnosis brought with it a complex set of other challenges that my support network and I would [...]
I am the proud mother to a vibrant 3.5-year-old, Émilie, who was diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) shortly before her second birthday. We were fortunate as a family to receive a diagnosis in a relatively rapid timeframe thanks to knowledge about navigating the health care system (I work as a nurse) and a [...]
How can we best transform the lives of youth affected by rheumatic diseases through Cassie + Friends? This March, in recognition of juvenile arthritis awareness month and #WORDDay, we hosted the very first Cassie + Friends Hackathon to get creative and collaborative around community-driven solutions that answer the question “How can we best transform [...]
Meet Amy and Abby Mazzone - a mom and daughter duo who’ve been fighting JIA together, along with their family, for 12 years. As with many in our community, Methotrexate has played an important, yet, challenging role in their journey to find relief from pain and allow Abby to be a kid. Below, you [...]
Dear Friends + Partners, As part of our advocacy for Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month, I am pleased to let you know about a special editorial by Cassie + Friends appearing today in the Toronto Star newspaper and digitally on healthinsight.ca. Click here for a link to the full article. Your voice is so important [...]
"I am hoping our daughter will be able to meet other girls her age with arthritis." "Willing to do anything to learn more about JIA." "We are hoping to connect with other families that have been through the hard time of arthritis and are trying to have a normal childhood for their child." "Oh [...]
As part of World Rheumatic Disease Day (WoRD Day), Cassie + Friends is announcing the official launch of our Youth Leadership Committee - a group of six young adults living with rheumatic conditions who will champion new C+F initiatives to support teens and young adults through major transitional stages of life, such as: Beginning or [...]
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 and a BIG [...]
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 - a [...]
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 and they [...]
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