You know you have a child with JIA when...

We recently put up a post in our private parent/carer Facebook group which said "You know you have a child with JIA when..." and the responses were so poignant and pertinent that those responding have kindly given permission for us to share. I'm sure that everyone who has a child with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) or has JIA themselves will be able to relate to some of these.

Please feel free to head to our social media pages and add your own or use the Your Voice form to let us know.

You’ve spent the whole morning on the phone chasing up results and arranging and rearranging medical appointments.

You feel like you are on repeat mode and no matter what you say, it fails to be heard.

You no longer have time for anything other than making calls related to your child’s JIA.

You tell your child there are no upcoming appointments only to get call after call because no-one can work out what is wrong.

You feel like the battle against sickness and bugs due to being immuno-suppressed is never over.

You tell your 3 year old it is Friday and she says “oh no, not jag [jab] day, I hate jag day.”

You feel like you’re at hospital more than at home.

You have constant battles with school and with doctors.

You can’t plan any days out in case of flares.

Your medicine cabinet is a full kitchen cupboard!

You panic every time your child says something hurts.