A mum has shared how her seven-year-old daughter was diagnosed with arthritis and related conditions after her hands turned grey and she struggled to walk to school.
Jessica Rhodes, now 12, from Edinburgh, first started exhibiting strange symptoms from the age of three, when she would get increasingly tired and emotional when walking home from nursery.
Blood tests didn’t reveal abnormalities but mum Tanya, 42, became concerned when she turned seven and her symptoms worsened.
“It became really obvious something wasn’t right,” Tanya, a communications officer, told NeedToKnow.online.
“We were out for dinner one night and she complained of sore wrists. Her hands were an unusual blue-grey colour, so I took her up to the GP straight away.
“Blood tests showed she was hypothyroid, but a month later, her knee became swollen, so she was seen by rheumatology.”
Jessica had symptoms including a swollen knee and abdominal pain, so doctors initially thought it may be a post-viral reaction.
But ophthalmologists discovered she had uveitis (inflammation in the back of the eye) and they realised it was more complex.
Tests revealed Jessica was actually suffering from arthritis and circulation problems, causing painfully cold hands which turned blue in reaction to even mild changes in temperature.
The symptoms were found to be caused by Raynaud’s phenomenon – a problem that causes decreased blood flow to the fingers.
Tanya said: “The uncertainty in the early months was unsettling. Like most people, I had no idea children could have arthritis.
“As untreated uveitis can affect eyesight, she was put on treatment straight away, so we did a lot of reading up on her conditions, the treatments, and the side effects.
“There are several types of juvenile arthritis and connective tissue diseases, and different medications work better for some children than others.
“It took a long time to find the right combination, and she had a lot of complications along the way, which caused a lot of stress and upheaval to our lives.”
Jessica has since been on a number of different treatments from methotrexate, steroid tablets, anti-inflammatories, steroid joint injections and infusions, and regular painkillers.
She was also temporarily given a wheelchair to attend school.
Tanya said: “Although it has often been challenging, she is incredibly stoic about her situation.
“She rarely complains about her condition, or the treatments, and over time she’s learnt to manage her health.
“She is still prone to overdoing it as she wants to throw herself into things like basketball and musical activities, but she’s getting better at listening to her body and knowing when to rest.
“She has to be careful because of her condition and the drugs she is on, she can be more prone to infection, and it’s often because of bugs, rather than her arthritis, that she misses school.
“Jessica is ambitious for her future, and wants to be a paediatric rheumatologist, because she knows she can bring her experiences to help other young people, and because she has a great medical team now.
“She’s had fantastic support from her school, Edinburgh Children’s Hospital Charity and the youth groups at Scotland Versus Arthritis, and that has really helped her by providing creative outlets, socialising and just knowing she’s not going through this alone.”
