JIA

So we finally went to see a specialist for Liam's knee problems and got a diagnosis. Liam has juvenile idiopathic oligoarthritis aka juvenile arthritis. The main question we have got from other people is if it will go away when he gets older. No it won't. It is something he will have for life. As long as we can keep it under control it shouldn't be too horrible. He has some swelling in his knee and some fluid that shouldn't be there. He may need to go into surgery to have it fixed. The fluid to be sucked out and the lining of his joint is very thick so they may need to shave some of it away. It scares me so bad to think about my baby going under anesthesia and having needles in him. I can't even think about how tough the recovery afterwards will be for the both of us. Right now we are starting him off on a special anti-inflamatory medicine and starting physical therapy since he can't straighten his legs. We also found out that along with juvenile arthritis they are very susceptible to an eye problem called uveitis, that if not taken care of can cause blindness. The worst part is that you won't even be able to see any symptoms of it so he will have to get regular check ups with a pediatric opthamologist every 3-6 months from now on. It is a lot for one mommy to take in. When I had a baby I never dreamed of having to deal with these kind of things. It is a bit stressful for me. I wish so much that my baby boy would never hurt, but now he has something that causes pain regularly. It makes me feel so bad. I don't know how to deal with it. I put on a strong face and try not to let it bother me. We are doing everything we can to keep everything ok, but still in the back of my mind it hurts. I hope none of our other kids have anything like this.