Background/Purpose: My name is India I got diagnosed with JIA when I was 8 and I’m now about to turn 28 so as you can imagine it’s been a whirlwind in that time.

Intervention: Obviously, at such a young age, you don’t truly understand the gravity of the situation, so I was very reliant on my parents and medical professionals in terms of healthcare and didn’t begin to take control until I was around 16 and I had to learn what this means for my life so I would spend endless nights googling and going on forums and doing everything in my power –which can be very confronting.
My immediate reaction was to talk to my doctors about everything from diet to all types of preventative treatments but the best thing they did was calm my nerves and explain it in a way I could understand so I was in control for example what medications did what, when I had to get a blood test, they would explain what and why they were testing.

Another helpful thing was having doctors who were always accessible when I had a flare and listened to my concerns and didn’t make me feel like I was overreacting or being dramatic and helped me work to fix the issues.

Maintenance: in doing these things I was able to go on and study and get a job and my health remained relatively stable

Quality of Life: My current quality of life is excellent, I’m working and feeling more inspired than ever to tell my story and get back into the world. If there’s any advice I could give it’s that I’ve been very blessed to have found amazing doctors and think everyone deserves the right to have a say in their healthcare and this should be the case always

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