Help Sarah raise money

25,000 children in Canada are affected by Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). If you would have told me two years ago that I would be one of those 25,000, I would not have believed you.

August 2023 was when it all started. I started feeling joint pain in my ankles, wrist and fingers. I was fifteen. Luckily I had an appointment that week with my family doctor for unrelated reasons. Once he noticed how inflamed my fingers were, he referred me to the HSC children’s rheumatology clinic.

I got in within eleven days. I know, I'm very lucky! After going through the protocol to make sure it wasn't a virus causing those symptoms, I was diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis a month after my sixteenth birthday. I was diagnosed in October 2023 and by December 2023, 38 of my joints had been affected.

After trying different meds and combinations, I now have gotten my pain under control. I take pills daily and injections bi-weekly. I am so thankful for the progress I have made with the help of the HSC children's rheumatology team. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to learn that my dreams to be a baker, even with Arthritis, could come true. 

I ask you to come walk with me on May 31st at Kildonan Park or donate if you can't make it. This walk is to support children with JIA or other rheumatic conditions so that we may improve juvenile rheumatology treatment so that everyone can have as positive or better experience than mine. 

I hope to see you on May 31st.

With love, Sarah ❤️