Juvenile Chronic Arthritis

My daughter Chriscenterl Marcus was 3 years old:my fifth child then (Editor’s note: Leyen is happily expecting her 8th child now). She had fever on and off in January 2002.

However in February 2002 she had a high fever and refused to move her left hip as the pain was unbearable. We took her to the doctor, and investigations and examination suggested septic arthritis of left hip.

She was admitted to Sabah Medical Center for 5 days where she had an operation done (open drainage of left hip), followed by intravenous antibiotics. She was then discharged on oral antibiotics for one month.

However 4 days later, she developed a painful swelling of the right wrist, but the x-ray showed no abnormalities. Diagnosis of synovitis was made and she was given oral painkillers but the symptoms persisted until oral steroids were prescribed in May 2002.

She continued having fever on and off. A blood test was done and she was diagnosed with Juvenile Chronic Arthritis. (Juvenile Chronic Arthritis is an autoimmune disorder which means that the body mistakenly attacks some of its own cells and tissues. Statistics show that approximately one in 1,000 children is afflicted. It can occur in children at any age, but appears more commonly between the ages of 2 and 6 years and is rare among Asians.)

The news was devastating, and my little darling was the doctor’s youngest patient. Chriscenterl would have cold sweats and fever every night, and her ribs would swell. But we couldn’t carry her because it was too painful for her.

Due to the side effects of oral steroids, she also had a bloated stomach and was moon faced (Editor’s note: Moon face is a term used by doctors to describe the swelling on the face/head). The doctor said Chriscenterl may not be able to grow to her full physical potential in height, and we had no idea how long she would have to stay on medication. Whenever steroids was administered the symptoms would go very quickly but it did not cure her.

My family has known Dr. Lynn for many years and upon sharing with her about my daughter’s condition. Dr. Lynn offered her expert advice and explained to us the importance of a healthy diet. My husband and I decided that we should change our family’s diet. From then on our meals contained no salt, meat and cooking oil.

We slowly weaned her off milk and we removed medicine from her diet little by little. We gave Chriscenterl four juices each day, usually carrot and apple juice with a mixture of yoghurt. NewLife™ Flaxseed oil and K-salt. We gave her lots of NewLife™ Spirulina to provide protein for her little body. She also took rolled oats, Propolplus, steamed vegetables and potato salad with yoghurt. Flaxseed oil and K-salt as her dressing and a lot of fruits for her meals. We noticed that whenever we fed her with small portions of meat, severe swelling would return. From there on, we kept her on a strict diet and continued to pray for her healing.

Praise God we had a breakthrough around May 2003. We continued reducing medicine from her diet, and this time whenever she had a reaction, it would not be as severe as before: only either one finger or one toe would swell whereby the swelling only lasted a day. The progress was remarkable compared with her previous severe reactions. It’s amazing with just a change in diet and nutritional measures. Chriscenterl recovered and regained her immunity.

Today, Chriscenterl is a strong and healthy 8 year old girl. Occasionally she takes some junk food, but there is no more recurrence of her past conditions. She is growing well just like her brothers and sisters.

LEYEN MARCUS, Kota Kinabalu