Steven was about five when we noticed he couldn’t zip zippers on his pants. “This is the hand I can’t close, Mommy” he said. We realized he couldn’t hold a pencil and truly had a problem closing his hand. Leading up to that moment he never complained of pain - only of limited motion. This theme repeats itself throughout Steven’s journey.
Steven is a very active & was more frustrated at having trouble holding a hockey stick than at the doctor’s appointments and follow ups. An MRI confirmed the suspicion that Steven had juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Our 2nd opinion from the Director of Arthritis at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital confirmed that Steven had arthritis in more than just his hands & so Steven’s journey to beat arthritis began.
At 6 yrs. old, Steven had 3-hour infusions at the hospital every 3 weeks, then every 4 weeks. After 2 years, the word “remission” was mentioned. Steven continued to stay active, playing football, baseball, wrestling and hockey. As a family, we decided not to tell anyone that he had Arthritis. He insisted that treatment sessions be scheduled around practices and games
Steven had a minor setback in 2018. We thought it was a football injury & he had limited motion in his knee for a few days. Not wanting to miss time playing football, he never complained of the pain…this time though he realized how real JIA is and how fortunate he is to live with arthritis and not suffer from it. Fortunately, this set back was able to be treated locally with steroids and Steven continued to stay active, playing football, baseball, wrestling and hockey.
Steven attends Arthritis Foundation’s Camp & enjoys meeting other kids with arthritis…it helps him know he’s not alone in his journey.
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