Rylee
Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
Youth Honoree
 Rylee’s journey with arthritis began when she was 2.5 years old with a mysterious swollen ankle. After months of tests, procedures and ruling out other diseases, she was diagnosis with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and uveitis. Rylee’s JIA flared significantly in 2022 but Rylee is a warrior and did everything she could to make sure she still kept up at school while dealing with infusions, shots, MRIs, trips to Stanford, and endless doctor visits. Instead of getting her down, it inspired her to advocate for other kids with arthritis. Rylee loves to play soccer, do gymnastics and be a crazy kid – a crazy kid that deals with big things like arthritis.
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Rachel Patel MD is an ophthalmologist specializing in uveitis, treating adults and children with inflammatory conditions that affect the eyes. During medical training in Salt Lake City, she felt drawn to this specialty for the opportunity to provide emerging treatments for these challenging conditions, and to be a supporter and advocate for patients and their families over the course of many years. She practices ophthalmology at Kaiser Permanente in Sacramento.