Hi ladies,

My 4 year old has just got home from 3 days in hospital & has been diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis. She has a swollen middle finger on her left hand.

Am just wondering if anyone else has any experience of this & as i'm shocked that she could have arthritis at such a young age.

Going to post this in a few other forum's too.

Thank you.

Claire & Olivia xxx

Sorry to gatecrash!

Just saw this - don't panic is the first thing! I'm sorry this has happened, it must've been really scary.

My brother was diagnosed with another type of rheumatioid arthritis - it was juvenile onset rather than juvenile. The difference is that the one my brother has comes on in adolescence and then stays through adulthood, whereas juvenile rheumatoid arthritis usually goes with age. It's not quite the same as the arthritis we think of that comes with old age, and it can completely be managed. Was she prescribed any medication?

I know it's hard, but please try to stay positive. My brother was diagnosed with his form of it, which is much more aggressive than the sort it sounds like your daughter has, at 14 and told he'd be in a wheelchair by 16. He's not, and he's even coming off his methetrixate medication. It's NOT the end of the world to hear the diagnosis, it's a good thing it's been caught early, which it sounds like it has, because now she can get the trreatments she needs. Physio was amazing for my brother, as was hydrotherapy because it affected his knees really badly. There might even be support groups in your area with other mums going through the same thing. You're definitely not on your own!

It's a good sign that she's only got it in one place, the best thing you can do is get as much info from doctors/specialists as you can and make sure she keeps moving, it's better to move it than keep it still!

I really hope you and your little girl are ok,

Em x x x

Hi Em,

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I'm sorry that your brother has been through this but am glad to hear that he is doing well.

I'm feeling better about things now. She has to go to Bristol (hopefully this week) to have a steroid injection under a GA but i'm hoping that once that is out of the way we can get back to 'normal' for a bit & take things as they come. Am confident that her symptoms can be managed in the future if necessary & am hoping that as she has no pain, it may just be a 'one off' so to speak. The Specialist has told me today not to get my hopes up as it is more than likely the start of things rather than a 'one off' but there is still a chance & i am hopeful that she may just grow out of it eventually anyway.

I met another mum in the hospital whose daughter had a similar thing in her knee so it's been nice to speak to someone who is going through the same (even though i obviously would rather that her daughter isn't!).

Again, thank you for taking the time to reply - your comments have been reassuring & much appreciated.

Claire xx

You're welcome Claire, it's a scary label but people can and do live perfectly normal lives with it! I hope your daughter is ok, the steroid injection will definitely make things feel better. All the best honey x x x

Hi Claire - just to let you know I answered your thread on this in the special needs forum x