"Say, what?!!?"
That's the reaction 12-and-a-half-year-old Sebastian Sundquist gets when he tells his school mates he's got arthritis.
"More kids need to know about arthritis," said the Spruceland elementary student, who moved to Prince George with his family a year ago. "When I talked to the 40 kids at Arthritis Camp in Squamish we all would hear the same thing when we tell people we have arthritis - 'that's what old people get', so clearly that's what people think."
September is Arthritis Awareness Month.
Despite the major misconception that arthritis is an old person's disease, it can affect anyone at any time in their lives, like Sebastian, who was diagnosed at four years old.
In B.C. and the Yukon more than 600,000 people live with some form of arthritis, three in every 1,000 children are affected, and there are more than 100 different kinds of arthritis, including gout, lupus and scleroderma.
Sebastian has juvenile arthritis.
For children diagnosed with the disease, early treatment can make a marked difference in outcomes and in some cases, can prevent further damage.
"My arthritis isn't too bad right now, but it's been bad at times," said Sebastian, who spends a lot of time sitting, when his arthritis gets bad because he gets leg pains.
"Sebastian was diagnosed on Halloween in 2006," said mom, Stephanie. "It was really obvious what he had because his knees really swelled up so we only went about six weeks from the first visit to our family doctor to a diagnosis in Vancouver."
Sebastian said he has mobility issues due to his arthritis.
"I'm always moving slower," he said.
Treatment for Sebastian includes medication, physiotherapy, occupational therapy to try to make school work for him.
"He has to get up and move around more often," said Stephanie. "He can't sit still for a long time or he'll stiffen right up."
Some children outgrow juvenile arthritis.
"When he was about six year old doctors would say most kids outgrow it by the time they're 10 but as he got closer and closer to that age, they stopped saying that to us," said Stephanie, with a sad smile. "It follows a relatively predictable course but you can never be 100 per cent certain what's going to happen next."
He could wake up tomorrow with his knees the size of basketballs.
"It happened two years ago on Boxing Day," recalled Stephanie. "He was fine on Christmas Day and then with no warning he couldn't even walk."
Sebastian describes it like this:
"If it's hurting a little more than normal - and that happens sometimes, it kinda goes like I can't really notice it to ok, I might have to slow down a little to WITHOUT WARNING I CAN'T MOVE!"
His description proved the point, without a doubt.
Sebastian fundraised during the Walk for Arthritis campaign in June. He raised $1,500.
"I just want people to know that kids get arthritis, too," said Sebastian.
