In this post, I wanted to bring to your awareness of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.
Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis is an autoimmune disease which is a form of arthritis that causes swelling, pain, and stiffness of the joints in children. The cause of JIA is unknown. I had never heard of such a condition until my daughter was diagnosed with it 2 years ago.
It started in her eyes. Her eyes became swollen, red, and she had drainage from her right eye. I took her to see the doctor but her pediatrician was not in the office that day. After treating her for pink eye, her eyes were not getting better but worse. What was misdiagnosed as pink eye was built up of inflammation in my daughter's eyes. She lost vision in her right eye temporarily. When I took her back to her pediatrician, after taking a look in her eyes, she recognized my daughter's condition. Immediately, she told her nurse to call the optometrist for us to come in for an emergency visit. I was more concerned at this point. When we arrived at the optometrist office. He was not so nice but he was knowledgeable about her condition. We started steroidal eye drops and we had to return back to his office the next day to see the pediatric optometrist. After staying there for about an hour or so, we left. As soon as I got my daughter in the car and I sat down, I broke down uncontrollably. I felt as though I failed as a parent. I wanted to know why and how can I fix it. But at this point, things were out of my control. I prayed and cried then called my sister. She was able to calm me down and reassured me that it was not my fault. We got back home and I was trying my best to process everything that took place. I did not sleep at all that night.
The next day, we went back to the optometrist. This time we saw the pediatric optometrist. He explained my daughter's condition to me and we talked about her treatment plan. He referred her to see a rheumatologist. We went to see the rheumatologist. He did his exam and noticed that inflammation was not only in her eyes but in her joints as well. Her rheumatologist told us that this condition is somewhat rare but he knew how to treat it. He started her on 2 injections, Methotrexate and Humira. Currently, I give her injections once a week and once every 2 weeks for the other.
As parents, we never want to see our child or children in pain. I felt helpless when she was hurting because I couldn't help her feel better. I am so thankful that I was able to get her to see specialists who were knowledgeable about this condition and gave me a better understanding of how to manage it. Most of the inflammation is gone now. Her vision has been restored fully with no problems. We will continue to be positive about this. Not everyday is a good day but we find good in each day.
This part of my journey requires much patience. We are praying for her healing. And, I can't wait to share with you all when she is in remission.
