Alberta family shares teen’s battle with juvenile arthritis ahead of fundraiser
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An Alberta teenager is sharing what the past eight years of her life has been like living with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, ahead of a fundraiser in Edmonton.
When she was five years old, Kylie George was at a gymnastics birthday party when she fell and hurt her ankle. Her parents didn’t think much of it, until it started to swell.
They did what any parent would and took her to the doctor.
“They thought that it was a small fracture, we got the cast,” Lisa George, Kylie’s mother, said. “A few weeks later, her knee started to really swell up and really stiffen up.”
Five-year-old Kylie George after she hurt her ankle during a gymnastics birthday party.
Supplied: Lisa George
Lisa said that Kylie would wake up in the middle of the night crying in pain, unable to walk.
When things weren’t getting better, they saw a number of doctors and got a multitude of tests. One doctor even suggested that Kylie was faking it.
“It was six months of Kylie really struggling,” her mom said.
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“Eventually we got an MRI of her knee, and that’s where they found quite a few significant findings and then started the process of the referrals to the right people,” she said, adding they were referred to the rheumatology clinic at the Stollery Children’s Hospital.
“As soon as we got there, they recognized it immediately and were able to start the care that we needed for Kylie.”
Kylie was diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis, shocking her family.
Kylie George at one of many medical appointments.
Supplied: Lisa George
More than 25,000 Canadian children live with the autoimmune disease, but a new Ipsos poll shows only one in five Canadians are familiar with it, and more than half mistakenly believe that arthritis is just joint pain, or that it only impacts older adults.
“When I diagnose somebody with arthritis as I thought arthritis is something that happens in old people, I didn’t think it happens in kids,” Dr. Tara McGrath, a pediatric rheumatologist at the Stollery Children’s Hospital.
“It causes stiffness swelling and pain,” said Dr. McGrath. “It causes the immune system to attack the lining of the joints.”
Dr. McGrath said there’s now a better understanding in medicine and pediatrics when it comes to juvenile arthritis, which means patients can be diagnosed and treated sooner.
“I think the main thing to know about juvenile arthritis is that it exists… that arthritis isn’t a problem of old people. It affects kids and it’s very treatable.”
Kylie’s eyes were impacted, and she still has issues with her knee. She said she often has to take breaks when she’s playing sports, like basketball, even when she doesn’t want to.
“My knee flares up whenever I do like a lot of activity,” she said. “I have to rest it before playing again.”
Kylie said having understanding friends helps.
“Usually they’re pretty understanding about it,” the Grade 8 student said. “They’re like, ‘Do you need to take a break for your knee?’ and so that’s just really nice.”
Kylie said it’s also nice that she has been able to meet friends who are going through the same thing she is through the organization Cassie + Friends.
Now her family helps fundraise for the organization.
The Team Cassie + Friends Edmonton Run/Walk for Juvenile Arthritis is Saturday, Sept. 13 to raise funds, awareness and connection in support of the Stollery Children’s Hospital and the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.
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