Kayla

My story is about my Granddaughter, Kayla. When she was 2, we noticed she wasn't using her fingers for some things. Like pulling herself up onto the kitchen chairs. I had heard/read a little about juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis so it made me wonder... My daughter took Kayla into her pediatrician. He was our family peds doctor, I recommended him to everyone! I thought he walked on water! Now I'd like to hold him under the water! JK.
At the appointment he told my daughter that her elbow was swollen, too. He said there was no way that could just happen so she must be being abused. ABUSED? Hardly. Anyway, he called Child protection and the cops came! It was terrible. they said they had to call child protection. ANYWAY, it took 6 months for my daughter to get that taken care of. So they referred Kayla to a bone doctor. He ran a bunch of tests and told us it would be a few weeks to get the results. He called much sooner than that because the rheumatoid one had already come back. That started our experience with JRA. I don't think they call it JRA anymore.
Now, Kayla is 13 and has had several injections in the joints, a weekly Enbrel injection. She has a knee flaring up right now, so they gave her an injection and started her on Humira injections. We are SO lucky to have met Dr. Patrick Knibbe! He takes care of our girl! Plus he has fun events for the kids and while they are playing, he educates us parents and grandparents on new things that are coming up. You couldn't ask for a more involved doctor. Next thing he is having is a transition class. Getting these kids to give their own injections, so when they go to college and stuff, they will be able to keep taking their meds.