My name is Julie.  I live in west Michigan with my husband & 3 daughters.  My youngest, Rylie, will be 11 next month.  She was diagnosed with Poly JIA about 2 1/2 weeks ago, so this is all very new (and overwhelming!) to us.

What is your child's diagnosis?  How is your child currently doing?

Rylie was diagnosed with Polyarticular JIA, but the dr. believes she will fall into the spondylitis classification.  We will know more at her next appt. in Nov.  She has inflammation in her fingers, thumbs, wrists, elbows, hips, knees and ankles.  The dr. thinks her spine may also be affected due to her extreme lack of flexibility.  She is achy and sore, and wakes up stiff, but relatively pain-free.

When was your child diagnosed?  How long did it take?

Her first symptoms appeared last Dec. when first one index finger swelled up, then a month later the other index finger (knuckle) swelled up and turned purple.  We had xrays and blood work done by our GP, which all looked "normal" but they sent us to the Ped. Rheum. specialist in Grand Rapids.  It took 6 months to get in to see him.  During that 6 months time, she began to complain about her hips hurting, and said she was not able to swing at recess because it just hurt her hips too bad.  We LOVED the rheumatoid doctor, and he did a very thorough job examining Rylie and diagnosed her right away with Polyarticular JIA.  He is fearful that her tendons and ligaments may also be involved.  He also thinks her spine is affected and is ruling out ankylosing spondylitis.  She had more xrays done (hands, elbows, SI joints) and more blood work.  We will see him again in 6 weeks and hopefully know more about her diagnosis and classification.

What mediacations is your child currently taking?  Previous meds?

Currently all she is taking is Naprosyn (with Tums).  She is not getting any better or worse at this point.  No prev. meds.  I expect she will be put on new meds at her next appt.  I will add that I'm worried the Naprosyn is affecting her moods.  Maybe it's because of her age (hormones are starting!) and her diagnosis, but she is normally very happy, and lately she cries all the time!!! (please advise if you have any input!)  I have googled side affects of Naprosyn and depression is listed...like I said, maybe it's just a combination of everything she is going thru?

What therapies or alternatives have you tried?

Nothing yet.  Too worried to change her diet, as she is VERY picky.  If I took her dairy & gluten away, she would probably starve! LOL!

Advice for newly diagnosed kids and their families?

No, unfortunately, we are newbies!

Anything else you want to add?

Just very, very happy that I found this board.  We do personally know one other family whose son has JRA, but he has been in remission for 3 years (which is WONDERFUL!) I would love to hear and compare stories with more families!  Blessings to all of you!!

She just turned four and has had both knees and both ankles affected twice and currently is having another flare up.  She has had steroid injections twice, she is on 6mg naprocin 2x day and about five months ago we started 10mg of Methotrexate and folic acid.  I don't think that is doing much though except making her extremely tired.She has also had two incidents of Uveitis which we've treated with pred forte drops (every 1 1/2 hours!). 

I'm new to the board and I'm here because I think I've just really realized that this disease isn't something that is going away (like you hear, and hope, might happen when you are first diagnosed).

Haley never complains and one of the hardest things for me is determining when she is in pain because she doesn't want to tell me.  We live a fast paced, active, busy life with five children.  I find it hard to balance treating her like her siblings and swooping her up in all the activities of our life because I don't want her to perceive of herself as different or left out with my need to be aware of the differing manifestations of JRA and treating those appropriately.