Tips for balancing RA and school

Hi . Your concerns about keeping up with school while recovering from surgeries is certainly understandable and it is good that you are starting to plan now. My wife, Kelly Mack (a contributor here), was diagnosed at age two. She had both hips and knees replaced at ages 15 and 16 respectively. She acknowledges it was a lot of work to stay on track and graduate on time. One major thing is to develop a plan with the school. Technology allowing for remote work should help. Teachers should be able to create plans. Kelly says the biggest thing may be the mental aspect - do a little bit at time, keep focused on the long-term goal. The first focus has to be on the recovery and the rehab. The initial period after surgery is when you can make the most physical progress. You can catch up on school and getting the health under control will help with that. There will be tough times, but you can get through this. You live with JIA, you already know how to do hard things. I'm tagging one of our other team members, , who also happens to have JIA. Hope this information is helpful and please feel free to keep us posted on how you are doing and to ask further questions. Best, Richard (Team Member)

It’s completely normal to feel stressed with everything coming up—juggling school, health, and surgeries is a big challenge. But the fact that you’re thinking ahead and looking for ways to manage it shows just how strong and thoughtful you are. One tip I’d suggest is letting your teachers or school counselors know what’s going on as soon as you can. They might be able to offer extensions or extra support. Having time to work out a plan before everything starts can really help ease some of your worry. You might also want to look into getting a 504 plan if you don’t have one already. And lastly, find yourself a support buddy, someone to check in with and lean on can also make a big difference. Wishing you a successful school year! Kindly, Latoya (Team Member)