Combating juvenile arthritis

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It’s a slow progression — but the number of children diagnosed with juvenile arthritis is increasing. 3 out of every thousand. Like other auto immune diseases there is no cure. But researchers are working on better treatments. and that’s important. because this illness can be crippling.

At just 5-years old, Sydney Keenan has a lengthy medical history. “Sometimes when I get needles now I don’t even need the cold cream on my arm.”

She has good reason to feel such pride. For the last year and a half she’s been scanned and poked and sliced while doctors tried to diagnose an illness that began with a dramatic shift in temperament.

Meredith Keenan is Sydney’s mother. “The behaviour was different. She was stumbling on her words. She would confuse her words. She was falling over. Start staring off having seizure activities and at that point they realized something was really really wrong.”

Sydney was eventually diagnosed with rheumatic fever — a condition that has left her with juvenile arthritis. Today is a good day. Bad days tend to be very bad.

Meredith says “We’d have to carry her from her room. She wouldn’t be able to come to school. She wouldn’t be able to feed herself at some points. The joints hurt that bad that she’s unable to move.”

Flare ups are common, as doctors search for the most effective medication.

Meredith adds “With the type she has she’s not going to have just one swollen knee, she’s going to have 2. If it’s in her wrist it’s going to be in both. The type she has it stays parallel the whole way down.”

Although it presents daily challenges, Sydney focuses on the good. “The first time I went to Mac,I got a sleepover and cheese and crackers.”

Meredith says “She takes it with such a sweet disposition to everything. She’s been amazing. I don’t know how she does it.”

Along with medical experts from the McMaster Children’s Hospital, the Keenan family has benefited from the Arthritis Society. It helps families network, offers assistive devices — and it provides regular physiotherapy for Sydney, right in the family home. The Arthritis Society’s website is Arthrits.ca.