Others Suffering With JRA

Wow. I really feel terrible for these children. I know how they feel. It really sucks. We shouldn't have to suffer, and it should be recognised. I really can't stand the ignorance. It really gets to me. It aggravates me how people make it look like we're such an inconvenience.



Here's an introduction:





This girl is doing a weekly methotrexate shot. it's used for both cancer patients and the arthritic. I was on it from about age 5 to age 12. I stopped at age 12 because that's when I was able to think more independently and realized what it was doing. It was hard for me to pay attention because I would just fog out. Someone would be snapping in my face to get my attention, but it would still take a minute for me to realize, "oh shit, some one's talking to me...". It also made my hair a bit thinner.




I seem to have quite a bit in common with this little girl. She's been on pretty much the same stuff I've been on over the years. There's a video of her doing an Enbrel shot. I've been on Enbrel since I was about 10. It was pretty much my last resort because I'd already been on every other med out there at the time. Thankfully, it helped me accomplish things I never thought I could do.

They also show her doing a Humira shot. I was a guinea pig on the study for that drug. I had to drive an hour and a half to St. Pete every two weeks to get it injected. It had to have been the most painful injection I've ever had. Not only did it hurt like a bitch going in, but it made me extremely dizzy. My head hurt like you wouldn't believe. So they had to give me the emla creme to numb it. After a while, I became immune to it. So that's when they put me on the Enbrel.

What's even worse, is this girl has Uveitis. It's when the JRA spreads to the eyes. The center of the eye, or uvea becomes inflamed. Therefore, causing blindness. I get checked every year for it. Luckily, it never happened to me.




I really hate how they never show children in any of the arthritis med ads.

This is probably the youngest person I've seen in an ad, but how old is she? Almost 40, right? It's ridiculous.





This one grosses me out in the worst way. I don't get it. I don't look like that!

(It's not the best quality, but it was the only vid I could find. it works though.)




...Disgusting! We don't look like that. That's basically saying that we're about to die soon like those people. We're not old. We need to be treated more than they do. There's hope for us. They've already lived their lives. (Maybe a little too much. You can tell by looking at their joints.) We have our whole life ahead of us. There has to be a cure. I want to do everything I can to form a foundation to help find one. As soon as a graduate from college. Perhaps a bit sooner? Let's hope it actually happens. I just want to make a difference.