Like most teenagers, I wait for summer all year long. No school, hanging out with my friends, swimming, bike riding, baseball. Up until two years ago, I was an avid baseball player, but I have juvenile arthritis and, for now, can no longer play.
Most people think of arthritis as something that affects their grandparents, but it affects more than 300,000 children, too.
When I was 8, I started to have swelling and pain in my fingers and hands, making it difficult to write. The pain started moving up my arms and into my back and legs. When kids complain about achy joints, parents and doctors often think it's just growing pains, but that's not always true.
According to the Arthritis Foundation, joint pain, stiffness and swelling in or around a joint that doesn't go away for at least six weeks can be early signs of juvenile arthritis.
This year has been a tough one for me. I missed a lot of school and, when I did go, I went for mostly half days, because sitting too long causes a lot of pain in my lower back, hips, knees and feet. But knowing that I'm not the only kid with this disease has helped a lot.
With our local juvenile arthritis group, I go to activities like Six Flags Great Escape Lodge and Indoor Waterpark, Howe Caverns, and a Tri-City Valley Cats game. Kids with arthritis can also go to Juvenile Arthritis Camp, and it's free. The next camp in New York is Aug. 8-13 at Double H Ranch in Lake Luzerne. Contact Nancy Simington at (631) 427-8272 or nsimingt@arthritis.org. For more information on juvenile arthritis, go to www.arthritis.org.
Jacob Rockmacher
Niskayuna