When you're pregnant, you do everything you can to make sure that the pregnancy goes well and that mom and baby stay healthy. You take your prenatals, get rest, change your diet, etc. When the baby is born, you do everything you can to keep them healthy. Feed them when they're hungry, make everyone hand sanitize and keep them under lock and key for a few weeks. While they may get an ear infection or cold every now and then, they get over and life moves on.....
But (at least for me) you don't spend a whole lot of time planning for the day when you're told, several years down the line, that your child has something wrong with them. Especially when that 'thing' is a chronic illness with no cure.
That is the hand that we were dealt on Tuesday, May 10, 2011. We took Siobhan, our 5 1/2 year old daughter into the Doctor for some unexplained swelling in her left knee. We were told by our awesome physician Dr. W, that she most likely had Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. After all the movement tests he found it in both knees and her right ankle. I was relieved that it wasn't something worse, but still, who wants to hear that their young child has arthritis?
After x-rays and blood work, we found out that she actually has it in both knees and both ankles and all of her blood tests came back consistent with JRA.
This is all so new to us and we are still somewhat in the dark. So that's the reason for the blog. This is our way of sharing information as we get it as well as having a venue to jot down some feelings and everyday goings-on as a family now living with JRA. Thanks for stopping by!
