The Girl With Arthritis

Children: Some people love them, others don't. Teenagers: Mostly everyone hates them. Maybe that's an overstatement, but that's how I usually feel. I know, I know: We're annoying. We're these disproportioned, pimply creatures that expect to be treated as adults, act like children and have unpredictable moods. I can't really blame you for rolling your eyes every time you see a rowdy group of teenagers walk by. But, I was wondering if we could stop the 'all teenagers are annoying and rude' stereotype? Please? I don't know if this is a world wide phenomenon or if it's just me, but some adults treat me very... Well, not with the respect I treat them with. For example, I was waiting to pay for something at a store. There were two women in front of me. The cashier greeted the Both of them very kindly. Then it was my turn: the cashier wouldn't look at me and didn't even speak to tell me my total, even though I greeted her. One time I was out r...

For children and teenagers with arthritis, there is one thing we hear very often. "You'll grow out of your arthritis." And no, it's not [usually] paediatric rheumatologists who tell kids this. It's other adults. It's the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbours, teachers, and sometimes even parents and other doctors. They don't know better and believe it is true, and may give them comfort to believe. They've heard it before: You can't possibly come up with that idea yourself. So who was that person who spread the idea? Lot's of people, actually. It is said that about seventy five per cent of children with arthritis in four or fewer joints will 'outgrow' arthritis without the need of drugs. It is extremely common for children to only have four or fewer joints affected, so it's very probable that the story of someone's child outgrowing arthritis would spread. Another problem is that many people don't understa...

In this post, I talk about a very hard time after I was diagnosed with arthritis. I share this because I think it's important for others to know that this is a hard disease. For the longest time I felt weak and that I was the only one weak enough to feel this way. But I know now that that is far from the truth: Many people feel this way and it's because they are strong. I know I'm not the first when I say 'I don't want to be alone in this disease.' I don't think anyone has ever said, 'I want to fight this alone,' and actually meant it. It's an ongoing thing that never seems to end, with surprises at every corner. I couldn't go on if it weren't for the wonderful people behind me. I know that for a fact because there was a point when I had almost no one. I did it almost alone for a long time. I had my mum, and she had me. Even then, sometimes there was a wall of fatigue between us. I was newly diagnosed and was taking methotrexate. It ...

What do chronically ill teenagers do for fun? We listen to Alex Day, read Divergent,  and watch Vine videos. We also like to play extremely violent video games, act way too old for ourselves and make adults squirm with our music, but that's a story for a different time. All too often, I think people are put into a group. The groups that interest me the most are young adults and chronically ill young adults, as if there is a huge difference. Alright, I admit it; there are times it shows that one hasn't any health concerns. Like when one can put on skin tight jeans and the other can't because of swollen joints. Or when one can go the whole day nonstop and the other struggles. And even when one can make 'risky' choices and only worry about getting caught, when the other can't because there is too much that could go wrong as well as getting caught. But honestly, there isn't much after that stuff. I might have arthritis. I might go to the hospital more oft...

I'm obviously not a young teenager. However, I once was. And I was a young teenager with arthritis too. That was not a fun time at all. Not only was my body going through all those awkward phases, but I had to deal with arthritis, medicines, side effects and a lot of emotional pain from all that. It's hard to forget life back then. Recently I've thought about that time. And I'm willing to share some of it in the form of confessions. And now I present Confessions of a (Young) Teenager with Arthritis. 1. My mood swings were both hormones and medicine. It's not well known that many medications can cause mood changes in people. Thus it's not surprise that I was very moody. Whilst it doesn't happen to everyone, it happened to me. Fridays were my Methotrexate days and the rest of the weekend could be miserable at times. It was very bad at times, so much so I said a lot of things I still regret. 2. I felt alienated from my peers. Okay, I never exactly fit in wi...

I've been busy for the past few days, and I'm finally getting to sit down and relax for a while. I put in twelve hour days quite often. Whether this is due to the fact I am young or that I'm simply busy, I know not. But what I do know is that I am young. And I do "young things." Granted, my joints don't really know that. But my brain does. And Arthur fights me the whole time I do things I like! It doesn't stop me at all. Nope. I go to concerts and dance the night away (if you want to know what that's like, check out a recent post 'Arthritis Dance'). I see theatre productions, despite the hours of inactivity. I go to parties. I shop for hours on end. I take long day trips. I do tons of things that make Arthur kick and scream and cry and beg me to go home. And I don't give in. Perhaps that's the young rebellious part of me? I think so, because I'm good to my parents and listen to my professors. Obviously I had to ignore someone.  ...

Confessions of a teenager with arthritis. 1. I am embarrassed. Embarrassed of my knees, my weakness, stiffness, pain, and most especially my limp. I don't want to bring attention to my legs or be the only person walking in the corridor, and I truly hate that my face gives away pain. 2. I know people think I'm faking, and why wouldn't they? I'm a seemingly healthy, young lady and I must obviously be looking for attention. Even doctors are suspicious and every time there is a fluctuation in my weight, I know they instantly suspect eating disorders. It couldn't possibly be the new medicines. 3. It's hard to relate to kids my own age about a lot of things: you don't realise it, but chronic illness changes a lot in your life. I talked about this in my post 'Arthritis Normal.' A lot of kids my age think its odd that I take my time getting where I need to and that I don't enjoy parties, as well as other things. 4. As much as I would like to be i...