Help Morgan raise money

Did you know kids can get arthritis too?

You've probably heard of arthritis. Maybe you've watched a grandparent struggle to get a ring over a swollen knuckle or cup an achy knee. That's usually osteoarthritis, which is typically the result of joints wearing down after a lifetime of use. 

Kids get a different kind of arthritis: Juvenile Arthritis (JA). JA is autoimmune, meaning the immune system attacks the joints, leaving them swollen, painful, and often quite fired-up (this is an arthritis joke… since inflamed joints run hot).

If you stop here, thanks for reading. Now you know kids can get arthritis too. 

If you're curious about my story, and want to learn more about why this means so much to me, keep reading.

So, I have arthritis! I was diagnosed at eight, after we'd blamed my sore joints on being an active kid, until I couldn't bend my knees or point my feet. When I told my grade three class, I got a flood of "my grandpa has that too," something I've heard some version of for the sixteen years since.

The best way I can describe the feeling of JA to someone is an injury that never seems to heal, no matter how much physio, medication, or rest you throw at it, plus some mornings, or weeks on end, waking up like you're coming down with, or already have the flu. I still get a pit in my stomach at the colour yellow, because it reminds me of a medication that made me nauseous for years. And for two years, I took weekly photos of my joints, just looking for a glimmer of hope that my joints would look less swollen than they did the week prior.

All this to say, I am one of the lucky kids with arthritis. I got to grow up participating in school, sports, and in almost all of the extracurriculars I wanted to with my peers. Many kids are not as lucky. My condition has always been relatively mild, and today I’m fortunate enough to be in remission, which I don't take for granted. 

But remission isn't the same as cured. JA can flare back up at any point, which means there's a low-grade hum of worry anytime my joints feel stiff.

But this is not the luck, or relief from the disease every child with JA get’s to experience. JA doesn’t just go away when you turn 18. 

One-third of kids with JA outgrow the condition completely and experience permanent remission without ongoing medication.

One-third of kids with JA achieve inactive disease or long-term clinical remission, with occasional flares (lasting weeks to years).

One-third of kids with JA  face persistent, chronic disease activity that progresses into adulthood and may cause long-term joint damage or disability.

In Canada, about 24,000 kids, live with JA or a related childhood rheumatic disease. It’s a leading cause of chronic disability in children, and yet it looks so different for every kid.

Since joining the Cassie + Friends community in 2019, I've met families desperate for a break from the lock this disease has on them: parents of toddlers newly diagnosed, kids who struggle to chew because arthritis can affect the jaw, and young adults choosing between a dream university in another province and staying home to keep uninterrupted access to their medications and medical team. JA is unpredictable, and it doesn't only affect the child diagnosed, it affects the whole family unit.

I was 18 when I met another young person with JA for the first time, through Cassie + Friends. That was ten years after my diagnosis, and it was nothing short of life-changing to meet other young people who had grown up with JA too.

Why I'm running

I'm running this 5K in support of Cassie + Friends because I have the privilege of being able to run pain-free, and to raise awareness, so that fewer kids spend sixteen years explaining that kids can get arthritis too.

Cassie + Friends funds research toward a cure and supports families now, from peer mentors to pain relief during needle injections. Treatment has come a long way in my lifetime because people funded research, and I'd like to see that keep going, so that the next generation doesn’t have to grow up in pain. 

If you'd like to donate to support the cause, I'd be so grateful. Every gift goes toward research for a cure and support for kids and families who need it now.

Thank you for reading this far.

Morgan