Eleven-year-old Rosalie Leschyson enjoys playing piano and getting lost in a good book.
“I do a lot of stuff. A lot of it is stuff I can do sitting down,” Rosalie said.
The upbeat young Winnipegger wasn’t always this way. Nearly five years ago, she had pain in her wrist that lasted for months.
“I thought she maybe had a hairline fracture that hadn’t been dealt with or a tendon had tweaked,” Rosalie’s mom, Abby Leschyson, said.
After multiple medical appointments, she received a diagnosis of polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
“Which means it affects multiple joints across her body,” Abby said. “Idiopathic means it’s an unknown cause and juvenile arthritis means anyone who’s under the age of 18.”
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For the next few years, Rosalie was in and out of doctor’s offices, receiving physiotherapy, painful injections and multiple medications.
After three years, she was deemed to be in medicated remission and treatment is now easier to manage.
“I get an infusion every month of tocilizumab and that’s the only medication I’m on right now,” Rosalie said.
Juvenile arthritis is estimated to affect 25,000 kids across Canada. Cassie + Friends is a movement 100 per cent dedicated to the juvenile arthritis community.
“We help children and families on all paths of their diagnosis, from newly diagnosed all the way to their transitioning into adult care, injection support and information about their medication,” Marissa Sangers, Cassie + Friends family engagement coordinator, said.
The Leschysons thanked Cassie + Friends for their support over the last few years.
“Everything from sending out gas cards for families who need to travel, grocery cards if you need to stay near your rheumatology department for treatments, different specialized mobility aids,” Abby said.
Next weekend, Cassie + Friends is hosting their second annual fundraising run/walk in Winnipeg.
“I just want to make sure the other kids who have arthritis don’t feel alone,” Rosalie said.
They hope to raise $30,000 and bring awareness to juvenile arthritis so more kids can get back to being kids, pain-free.
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