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Girl Wins Heart of Mom's Workplace
By Dianna Borsi O'Brien
When Kaitlyn Clark, 6, said she wanted to play T-ball, her mother, Christy Clark, hesitated.
She contacted Kaitlyn's doctor and asked for an ok and whether Kaitlyn would need special protective equipment.
Christy Clark is not an over protective mother. She's the mother of a little girl with juvenile arthritis, a disease that strikes about 285,000 kids nationwide. Yet few people realize that arthritis affects children, too.
"People here know what Kaitlyn has been through the last three years," said Clark, a medical records supervisor at the skilled nursing center.
What Kaitlyn Faces
It's hard to tell by looking at Kaitlyn, an active kindergartener, that she has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, the most common form of juvenile arthritis. Yet, last year, her illness cost more than $6,000 in medical expenses.
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) is a serious, autoimmune disease, affecting about 70,000 children across the nation. The symptoms can include swelling and stiffness in the joints, but the disease can also affect internal organs and lead to permanent joint damage.
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