As a little girl, Olívie was a sporty type. But in kindergarten, parents noticed that he had various limitations. “She couldn’t tilt her head back, she was a little clumsy, her knees often hurt, and sometimes she couldn’t get out of her crib. It was difficult for her to walk,” says mother Kateřina. The family turned to the doctor. “It took a year to find out the diagnosis. Only then did we get to the rheumatologists, who purposefully asked about things we hadn’t even noticed.” he says.
It was, for example, how he works with his fingers. “Only in hindsight did we realize that he didn’t really want to cut or draw. Or she didn’t want to bite the carrot because she actually had inflammation in her jaws. Even though I’m a professional athlete, I didn’t notice that he wasn’t finishing his elbow,” mom is making up.
The disease mostly affects young girls and is incurable. “It is an autoimmune disease. Actually, arthritis, which hurts the kids just as much as the old people. The problem is that as they grow, the inflammation can deform the joints, and if left untreated, irreversible damage can occur.” explains Mrs. Kateřina.
At five years of chemotherapy
At the age of five, 24 joints were already affected. The doctors then started chemotherapy. “A small dose of bowel cancer drugs suppresses inflammation,” says the now young lady’s mother. The goal is to get into a so-called remission. “That is, until the moment when the disease does not show itself, which has not happened yet. That’s why he’s now getting a biological treatment that’s helping.” stated Mrs. Kateřina.
Another disease was added
Celiac disease was added to rheumatism, another autoimmune disease in which a person is sensitive to gluten, which is contained in grain and affects the mucous membrane of the small intestine. “Perhaps even more limiting than arthritis,” says Olivia. He must carefully read the ingredients of the foods he eats. “If I missed something, the diet would be interrupted and therefore she would be more likely to get bowel cancer or infertility,” he realizes and adds the fact that if he violates her, he won’t know it. “I have asymptomatic celiac disease. That makes it harder,” supplies.
She dropped the crutches
Since the doctors discovered the disease, Olivia has also had a psychologist at hand. “He discusses everything with her and we have support in this. I must say that Olivka got enough courage for the illness, she simply does not regret it. She knows that if she doesn’t take her medicine, she will be sick, and she already knows how it hurts. After all, she had to walk on crutches as a child. Now he can deal with life,” says Mrs. Kateřina.
He plays handball, has medals in athletics
Olivia tries to live a normal life. “I do sports, I play handball. And I also have a collection of athletics medals. You can live with it until the attack comes. Sports are recommended to me by the doctors,” says the girl, adding that she also did a triathlon. “She won’t be a top athlete, but she’s good at sports and she does it for fun,” her mother completes her.
Hope for the sick
Mother and daughter make ARTRI bracelets from Olí and Katka, which make children with arthritis happy. Why ARTRI? “Making helps Olivka exercise her finger joints, which can sometimes be swollen and stiff. At the same time, it relaxes, but above all it can make children with a similar disease happy. For every four bracelets sold, we make one that goes to the rheumatology department of the VFN in Prague. We cannot help children with arthritis, but we would like to make them happy.” they explain that they get them, for example, after injections. More at: artrinaramky.cz
Revma Liga will supply the information
Olívia is helped by the Revma Liga Czech Republic, which Blesk writes about in the Heart for You project. “We once received a book from them about rheumatism for children. If we need to contact a doctor or recommend some exercises, we have somewhere to turn. They have social networks where we learn useful information and things we wouldn’t even think to ask.” says Mrs. Kateřina, who also draws attention to various lectures, congresses, gatherings of rheumatologists, where doctors solve specific problems with them.
You can help too!
The organization needs about 2.5 million crowns annually for its activities. Among other things, he is currently collecting a contribution to a comic book for sick children. You can help too! You can send any contribution to the transparent account: 2202742845/2010. At www.revmaliga.cz/ chci-darovat/ you will find a link to DMS
Contact: Revma Liga Czech Republic, zs
Address: Na Slupi 450/4, 128 00 Prague
Phone: +420 604 925 076
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.revmaliga.cz
He plays handball and has medals in athletics.
Author: Robert Klejch
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