Post 1: Diagnosis & Eve's "fat finger"

Let me kick-off this blog post by defining juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Simply put, JIA is a long-term inflammatory disorder of the joints affecting under-16s, that has no obvious cause.

"But wait, kids with arthritis?" Surely not—that only affects old folk, right?! That's exactly what I believed as well, up until the time we were informed by a GP that he suspected my daughter's pain may be caused by juvenile arthritis. This blog series will document Eve’s journey from the time of her diagnosis to the present.

It all began when Eve, who was seven at the time, started waking through the night crying because her knuckle was sore and would climb into bed beside her mother and I and ask me to rub her wee hand. This routine persisted for a few nights before we decided the time had come to see a doctor. After visiting a GP, we were then ping-ponged back and forth between the GP surgery and A&E, with everything suspected from a staved finger to soft tissue damage but ultimately never really getting a definitive answer. The heart-breaking nightly routine of bed-hopping, tears and Ibuprofen continued so off we went back to the GP surgery, but this time luck was on our side. Our appointment had been made with a junior doctor, who admitted he really didn’t know what was going on and asked if we were okay with him getting a second opinion from a senior doctor. After examining her swollen finger, he announced that he suspected it was arthritis and that he would make an urgent referral to paediatric rheumatology.

I can remember vividly the disbelief that my little girl could have arthritis! My head was spinning! Eve is a talented footballer; would this prevent her playing the game she loves? Were her days at the skatepark over at such a young age? Would she be on medication for the rest of her life? Would this stop her having all the typical experiences growing up?

Fortunately, as we later learned, advances in JIA treatment have made it possible for kids to live relatively normal lives once their flares are under control and that physical activity is now encouraged, unlike in the past.

Since then, we've heard stories from other parents who, despite knowing their child was suffering, had to fight tooth and nail to get a referral to rheumatology, so I'll always be grateful to this GP for recognising Eve's symptoms and quickly making the referral, allowing her to get treated as soon as possible, and I believe this has been an important factor in her now being off medication for more than a year.

Please use the links below if you wish to read the other posts in this blog series: 

Post 1: Diagnosis & Eve's fat finger

Post 2: Joint injections & worried parents

Post 3: The dreaded medication

Post 4: Remission