Rian’s Story
Living with juvenile idiopathic arthritis can be difficult. For 13-year-old Rian Davis, Arthritis Foundation summer and family camps are helping her manage her pain and make lifelong friends.
Rian Davis lives in Tucson and is 13 years old. Rian is like most other teenage girls who love to go to the mall, swim, go to the lake and to the dunes, play volleyball and hang out with friends. When she was 13 months old, her mom noticed Rian was having a hard time walking and started to combat crawl. Rian’s mom took her to Tucson Medical Center where she underwent several tests that included MRIs, cat scans and lab work. A rheumatologist was finally consulted after the lab work came in with the polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis diagnosis. Which means, she has arthritis in most of her joints.
This past year, Rian has been on Enbrel injections, methotrexate and prednisone. In May 2017, she had to go to the pediatric oncology unit at Banner Hospital for monthly infusions of Actemera. She is now able to do her monthly infusions in the comfort of her own home with a nurse who comes to her house. She has had to have cortisone injections in her knees, ankles and hips to relieve the pain and inflammation in her joints. Rian has good days and bad days, but she is learning how to live with arthritis, and the Arthritis Foundation helps her do that.
Rian loves having the Arthritis Foundation in her life because it is a great way to meet other kids just like her. She gets to go to Camp Cruz during the summer, where she has a lot of fun and gets extra education about her diagnosis. Rian also likes to go to Camp ILA in the fall, which is a camp where the whole family gets to be together and learn how to manage the difficulties of arthritis. Not only does she learn how to live with arthritis, but she also get to talk about it with other kids who understand just what she goes through.
Rain and her family created the A Team and participate in Jingle Bell Run to raise money that supports the Arthritis Foundation. Without Jingle Bell Run, there might not be Camp Cruz or Camp ILA. She knows that the Arthritis Foundation does so much more than just offer camps to kids, but the most important part to her is realizing she isn’t alone in her fight against arthritis.
This past year, Rian has been on Enbrel injections, methotrexate and prednisone. In May 2017, she had to go to the pediatric oncology unit at Banner Hospital for monthly infusions of Actemera. She is now able to do her monthly infusions in the comfort of her own home with a nurse who comes to her house. She has had to have cortisone injections in her knees, ankles and hips to relieve the pain and inflammation in her joints. Rian has good days and bad days, but she is learning how to live with arthritis, and the Arthritis Foundation helps her do that.
Rian loves having the Arthritis Foundation in her life because it is a great way to meet other kids just like her. She gets to go to Camp Cruz during the summer, where she has a lot of fun and gets extra education about her diagnosis. Rian also likes to go to Camp ILA in the fall, which is a camp where the whole family gets to be together and learn how to manage the difficulties of arthritis. Not only does she learn how to live with arthritis, but she also get to talk about it with other kids who understand just what she goes through.
Rain and her family created the A Team and participate in Jingle Bell Run to raise money that supports the Arthritis Foundation. Without Jingle Bell Run, there might not be Camp Cruz or Camp ILA. She knows that the Arthritis Foundation does so much more than just offer camps to kids, but the most important part to her is realizing she isn’t alone in her fight against arthritis.