On 2nd August 2002 Cat was diagnosed with polyarticular rheumatoid factor positive Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) - one of the childhood forms of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) - at the tender age of 14.
Whilst most children are becoming more and more independent at this time, Cat's mum was doing everything for her - feeding her, washing her, dressing her, and sometimes even helping her go to the toilet. Thanks to leading edge treatment Cat is not wheelchair bound and she is now able to lead a relatively 'normal' life. However damage to her joints is inevitable; she underwent her first hip replacement at the age of 20 and may have to have more joints replaced in the future. She also lives with the possibility that her heart and lungs could become affected by the disease, too.
Since her diagnosis not only has she had to battle with the daily pain, immobility, and fatigue that the disease inflicts on her but also the constant disbelief and lack of understanding about the condition from those around her. It can be pretty lonely (and painful) suffering from RA, but generally Cat tries to see the funny side of life with a chronic illness that to this day is wrongly perceived as a disease associated with the elderly. What's more, she is determined not to let the condition ruin her life or stop her achieving her goals. To date Cat has run four London Marathons, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world and, against the odds, recently achieved her childhood dream of becoming a doctor. She hopes that this will prove to other sufferers of RA that life does not have to stop with their diagnosis.
In writing That Girl With Arthritis (an ironic reference to a boy at school who used it as an insult when talking about her) Cat hopes to provide an insight into what it's like to live with a disease that currently has no cure and in doing so raise awareness of the condition, particularly in young people.
No comments:
Post a Comment