Maia

Maia : Also known as Maiabus, Maisan, Tweedle Dee, Miss M

A very cool, laid back little lady who takes everything as it comes. Very much full of energy with a thing for painting and baking and running. Preferably as fast as she can, despite her swollen knee and ankle due to arthritis (JIA). Thats ma gurl!

So here is a quick summary from what I found on Wikipedia about Maia’s illness. Some stuff sounds rather scary, but we got a diagnosis rather quick (even if it did take 4months haha, almost to the day) so fingers crossed all will be well with Maia =)

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) (aka Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis JRA) is the most common form of persistent arthritis in children. (Juvenile in this context refers to an onset before age 16, idiopathic refers to a condition with no defined cause, and arthritis is the inflammation of the synovium of a joint.)

JIA is a subset of arthritis seen in childhood, which may be transient and self-limited or chronic. It differs significantly from arthritis commonly seen in adults (osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis). It is an autoimmune disorder.

Symptoms of JIA are often non-specific initially, and include lethargy, reduced physical activity, and poor appetite. The first manifestation, particularly in young children, may be limping. Children may also become quite ill, presenting with flu-like symptoms that persist. The cardinal clinical feature is persistent swelling of the affected joint(s), which commonly include the knee, ankle, wrist and small joints of the hands and feet. Swelling may be difficult to detect clinically, especially for joints such as those of the spine, sacroiliac joints, shoulder, hip and jaw, where imaging techniques such as ultrasound or MRI are very useful.

Pain is an important feature of JIA, but young children may have difficulty in communicating this symptom. Morning stiffness that improves later in the day is a common feature. Late effects of arthritis include joint contracture (stiff, bent joint) and joint damage. Children with JIA vary in the degree to which they are affected by particular symptoms.

 Eye disease: JIA is associated with inflammation in the front of the eye, which affects about one child in five who has JIA, most commonly girls. This complication may not have any symptoms and can be detected by an experienced optometrist or ophthalmologist using a slit lamp. Most children with JIA are enrolled in a regular slit lamp screening program, as poorly controlled chronic anterior uveitis may result in permanent eye damage, including blindness.

 Growth disturbance: Children with JIA may have reduced overall rate of growth, especially if the disease involves many joints or other body systems. Paradoxically, individually affected large joints (such as the knee) may grow faster, due to inflammation - induced, increased blood supply to the bone growth plates situated near the joints