JIA and Dance

When you have a child, you have dreams.  Every parent does.  Your dreams, may or may not match your child's, as they grow, but to a certain extent, you help shape those dreams.

When my little girl was born, I hated pink.  I put her in yellow, purple and aqua, as frequently as possible.  AND...  pink.  Pink was her favorite color.  In many ways, I think that was my fault.

The day my little girl was born was traumatic, she was delivered via emergency c-section for a Placental Abruption.  When I saw her several hours after our failed Spinal, that resulted in general anesthesia.  When I held her for the first time...  I thought...  here is my dancer...  my future ballerina.  I could think only of pink ballet slippers.  Thus...  her never ending obsession with pink!

When she was 3 years old, she got her first pair of ballet slippers and tap shoes. Miss Brenda's Dance Studio  I remember how adorable she looked in them.  She was perfect!  She had the energy and stamina to keep up and make others smile and wonder where all that energy came from!

When she was 5, we moved and it took a year or so to find a new studio.  We did though.  Kennedy School of Dance.  She loves, and has since she started, her dance teachers.  They are fantastic!

She has loved both places.  Both, she has learned so much.  The last couple of years have been very interesting in regards to her dance.  As she has juggled  Anti-inflammatories, pain relievers,DMARDS, Biologicals, and Corticosteroids.  This May, she had her dance recital, along with Blue Angels tryouts. They are a wonderful dance team.  She has been part of the StraightUp dance team and truly enjoyed it.     These were (are) her dreams.  Dreams that SHE had (has)  until now.

This year was NOT her best year performing.  I (as her mom)  sat in the audience watching her and her younger sister perform all night.  So many beautiful dancers.  Routine after routine I watched her...  as the night progressed, she started limping off the stage.  My heart sank...  and broke for her, all at the same time.  This girl who had so much potential and hope at the beginning of the dance year, limping off the stage less than two weeks after joint injections in her knees.   She cried when she got home.  I cried with her.  She is hoping to dance again in the fall...  but at this point, I truly feel like her JIA is winning.  She keeps fighting.  She is one tough cookie.  She is my hero.  With her pain, I dont know that I could do what she does.  I pray every day for a cure.