Faith's Story
Faith was a healthy little 4 yr old girl, until one morning, with no warning or cause, she woke up with two collapsed vertebrae. After visiting with many doctors, having multiple bone biopsies and curettages and countless MRIs and scans, she was misdiagnosed and mistreated for 3 years. It wasn’t until a final surgery when she was 7, that she was diagnosed with CRMO. She has had many lesions in her vertebra, sacrum, femurs, tibias, fibulas, and ankles. At 13, she is still searching for something that will take the inflammation and pain away and even though she hasn’t found it yet, she is hopeful. She has become a strong voice for the CRMO Community and has partnered with many different organizations and agencies to educate and inform others about this rare disease. She believes that all those who suffer from this disease are warriors and are #crmostrong.
Sadie's Story
This is Sadie. She’s about to turn 11 and was diagnosed with CRMO in 2015. She currently has multiple lesions between her ankles and knees, and also in a few of her growth plates. Because of bone-bridging in her growth plates, the rheumatologist put her on Humira. The good news is, thanks to Humira, the lesions are now stable. The not-so-good news is that the injection burned so much it was a very traumatic experience. The really not-so-good news is that she developed psoriasis while on Humira. And the really really not-so-good news is that along with psoriasis on her scalp, she’s losing a lot of hair. So in an attempt to lift her spirits and take her mind off her bald patches, she had a day at the salon and got mermaid hair! We are hoping that the switch to Remicade infusions will help her CRMO lesions, the associated psoriasis and both the physical and emotional pain of this frustrating disease.
Jaron's Story
When Jaron started to walk we knew something was not quite right. He would walk with a limp and could not move like other kids his age. The limp and limited mobility continued as he got older but Drs did not know what the cause was. The Drs would tell me that "Some kids just move differently... I think he is moving just fine.....I do not see anything wrong with him..." As time progressed he started to scoot on his bottom to go up and down the stairs because it was too difficult to walk. He had difficulty getting dressed because his legs were so stiff he could not bend them. After 8 years of taking him to Drs we finally got the diagnosis of CRMO. It has only been a year since the diagnosis and we are still struggling to treat this disease. We need more research and treatment options for these kids.
"Mom I don't want to be in pain anymore"
- Deja
Chloe's Story
Chloe was an 8 year old, perfectly healthy girl when one day she started complaining of leg pain. The school nurse, her gym teacher, and sadly myself all brushed it off as growing pains. She did not complain everyday, and there really was no pattern to it. This off and on complaint lasted for about two weeks, until out of no where, she completely lost her ability to walk due to the pain.
She was admitted to the hospital for another two weeks before they could get her pain managed and her walking with assistance again. Her pain was not isolated to any specific location on her legs, and it seemed like everyday we spent in the hospital she specified a different spot on her lower extremities. Finally a full body Mri was performed, and it was discovered she had multiple lesions from the pelvis down, in both legs. There were lots of test, scans, bloodwork, etc done, before she was diagnosed. We are fortunate that the team with Texas Children's Hospital were able to diagnose her in five months, and her treatment began immediately. She currently is walking without assistance, and slowly, but surely making improvements.
"Mommy will you carry me?
- Sadie, age 9
Max's Story
This is Max. He is 9 years old and was diagnosed with CRMO when he was 8 after 8 months of misdiagnosis. Initially Max experienced off the charts pain in his right knee which lasted about 4 -6 months often times waking in the night inconsolable. He was originally treated by his local pediatrician for Lyme's disease (no known bite) and later with a plan for a year of antibiotics for recurrent strep (never had a positive strep test). Finally, I went with my gut that it was something else and with the help of a new pediatrician was referred to the University of Iowa Hospitals and was lucky enough to have an appointment with Dr. Polly Ferguson. Finally a diagnosis that we could work with! Max had four lesions of which only one was causing pain and we started treatment with daily NSAIDs. Other than the onset Max has had a mild case of CRMO and daily Meloxicam controls most of his inflammation and pain. Every few months he will have a flare that blows right through the medicine but only lasts about a week which is manageable. We are cautious to move to the next tier of medications, but will tackle that obstacle if the need arises.
In addition to CRMO, Max began experiencing stomach issues (pain, loss of appetite with weight loss) after his diagnosis necessitating upper and lower scopes for which nothing was found. He also has chronic lymphadenectomy(16 mos of swollen nodes). Due to poor weight gain, night sweats and some persistent viral infections he had lymph node and bone marrow biopsies to rule out malignancy. Luckily both of those tests were negative. I believe his swollen nodes, stomach issues,seemingly suppressed immune system, poor weight gain and weight loss are connected to his CRMO and I would like to see (and perhaps this is already happening) research look at a systemic approach to the disease as I think it affects more than our children's bones. Max has been lucky thus far with CRMO, but we have been through the gamut worrying about underlying health issues, and he continues to have swollen nodes, night sweats and consistent viral activity.