Hope Lives

My son who is now in medical remission from SJIA and his sister who has juvenile arthritis (JA) enjoying healthy times at a recent baseball game.

I remember when my son was first diagnosed with an autoinflammatory illness, systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA). It seemed like nothing was helping. It was very frustrating, not knowing what to expect, and not knowing why he wasn’t getting better. Surely the doctors can help him, can’t they? But nothing they did seemed to make a difference.

 

It became very difficult to hear stories of children who had been diagnosed more recently than my son, who were in medicated, or even unmedicated remission. I was jealous, and couldn’t stand to hear that someone else had what I was so desperately looking for.

 

But there is hope. I didn’t rest until the doctors found the right medicine to help him. I was a mama bear and persisted and now, he too is in medicated remission.

 

So if you’re struggling because things aren’t helping; if the treatment just doesn’t seem to be doing any good, keep pushing.  Hopefully there is is a medicine out there that will help your or your child’s symptoms. If not, keep working for more research. There is hope. New medicines are being developed all the time.

 

Researchers are looking for a cure. When they make a discovery, often a new medicine is developed from that new knowledge. New resources are continually being introduced for the person whose symptoms are resistant to current treatments. 

 

Don’t give up! There is always hope.

More for You

About Jeri Tellez

Jeri Tellez's son Will developed Still’s disease after a viral infection in 2008 (age 11). Since then she has become an advocate for kids living with various forms of arthritis. She is active in the online community, mentoring newly diagnosed families, sharing insights with those not affected by autoinflammatory disease, and promoting awareness and education of chronic invisible illness. Jeri, Will, and sister Carmen have spoken at fundraisers and have lobbied congress for the American College of Rheumatology. You can find Jeri blogging about life at Random Thoughts from Texas.

Comments are closed.