Most people think Arthritis is an old persons disease, right ?.....Wrong !  

Olivia was 14 and my beautiful niece Grace was 1, when their symptoms first appeared.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks your joints instead of protecting it from bacteria and viruses.

When Olivia was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis her Dr said the easiest way to describe it was to imagine a mouse nibbling away and eating her knuckle and leaving what’s left inflamed, swollen and then moving onto the next one and the next one. She now has it in numerous joints in both hands, her wrists and feet. Over the last 10 years Olivia has been on 7 different types of drugs, some work for a short while and some not at all. One drug in particular, Humira was fantastic for 2 years until her body became used to it in her system and it stopped working. For the last 2 years nothing has worked not even Rituximab an intravenous drip pumped into her over 2 days for 8 hours per day. She is now waiting to start on her 8th drug and after that there is only one more she can try. In the meantime she’s back on taking steroids daily which she hates for the obvious reason of weight gain and all for a slightly reduced pain relief.

Grace now age 6 has a different type of Arthritis called Juvinile Idiopathic Arthritis. Unfortunately this one not only affects bone joints but brings along with it another disease called Uveitis. This is an inflammation of the middle layer of the eye which can affect your eyesight and if left untreated causes blindness. For the last 12/18 months Grace has had to have steroid drops in her eyes 3 times a day to suppress that inflammation. After Christmas Grace will be starting on the same first drug as Olivia, Methotrexate. It is a chemotherapy agent and immune system suppressant that has side effects including nausea, extreme tiredness and the ability to catch any illness going around as it totally wipes out your immune system to stop it attacking your joints.

What I haven’t mentioned is the way in administering these drugs is in injection form - at home. It was heartbreaking watching your teenage daughter learn how to inject herself once a week, however Olivia soon perfected it with her usual determination. In January when both girls have collected their new drugs Olivia is planning on having injection parties with Grace ! Once a week after work she will visit Grace and they will do their injections together. 

To look at the two of them you wouldn’t know they have this awful disease as they never complain and are always smiling. I call Grace ‘our little fairy’ as she seldom walks any distance without skipping and twirling around. A few months ago Olivia told me she doesn’t know what its like anymore to wake up in the morning pain free “you just deal with it” she wont let it get the better of her or rule her life. 

As a parent you would do anything for your child regardless of age and if you could swap places with them you would. So this is why I don’t want or need any presents for my birthday. I just want a new drug or cure that will stop Rheumatoid Arthritis in its tracks.

Thank you for reading,