I’m lucky. I have a large family around me, all within 20 miles of where I live. But when it comes to talking about my chronic pain and illness, I find myself drawing comfort from those I have never met. In this article, I explore why.

You have to experience it to understand

I have a loving family, but over this dark period of my life, this last year where it feels like it has been one thing after another. There has been something that has surprised me above all else since deciding to go public with my story. …

It took becoming a parent myself to realise the strain my juvenile arthritis had placed on my family. Arthritis stole from my parents, siblings, my education and my friendships. For the first time in over 20 years, I’m writing down my experiences as a child with arthritis.

An ‘old person’s disease’ before my 11th birthday

I was diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JiA) when I was between 12 and 13 years old but I had been having symptoms from around my 11th birthday.

I’ll never forget how it started, it’s funny how those life changing moments turn out to be your clearest memories. We were having a family day out in Great Yarmouth. It was summer of 1995 before the start of the school summer holidays. We’d spent the day at the beach, eating treats and playing on the 2p machines. One of those childhood memories where you recall it as the perfect day — if there was arguments, you don’t remember them. …

Any new diagnosis requires a period of adjustment, time to come to terms with the implications and a good support network around you — however, arthritis is particularly challenging.

The chances are it’s a condition you have to manage for the rest of your life, dealing with pain along with potential mobility issues and any damage caused. Virtually all forms of arthritis cause some type of damage and therefore it’s progressive in its nature, meaning the issues you are dealing with now may be greater the longer you live with the disease. …