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    A Special Kind of Different
    A Special Kind of Different
    A Special Kind of Different
    Ebook93 pages1 hour

    A Special Kind of Different

    By Christine Schwab and Celina Camarillo

    ()

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    About this ebook

    A Special Kind of Different is a children's book that was written to help children dealing with Juvenile Arthritis. Arthritis is not a word you see related to children so there is much mis-understanding and confusion. This book will take you on the journey of a brother and sister and their family as they discover what JA is, how to deal with it, and how to manage as a family. It is positive, honest and informative and woven into the daily
    lives of a normal family that is not aware that kids get arthritis too. Through their journey you learn the importance of hope and understanding. This book is for any family dealing with any disease affecting their children.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateNov 17, 2017
    ISBN9781543919622
    A Special Kind of Different

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      Book preview

      A Special Kind of Different - Christine Schwab

      destination

      CHAPTER 1

      SPECIAL

      I never thought of myself as different until I got Juvenile Arthritis. Now I’m starting to feel different.

      My name is Zach and I’m 8 years old and I’m told I’m special. Some days I’m not so sure how special but other days I feel great when my mom or dad tell me I’ve done a good job. Even when I was little, my mom said I had a special imagination. My dad tells me how special I am when I help him wash the car. I really don’t think washing cars is special.

      My teacher sometimes says, Zach, you’re different. Only the way she says it, I don’t think it means special.

      My soccer coach tells me I have a special way of kicking the ball. My dad says it’s a left-handed compliment. But I’m right handed.

      My mom is the first one to notice something is different about me. My feet are growing really fast. I can’t fit in my shoes. We buy a size bigger and I grow out of those in two weeks. And when my knees and fingers puff up my mom says, You have to stop eating so many cheeseburgers Zach. And I’m like, NO WAY! Cheeseburgers are my favorite food. But even my friends at school start looking at me weird.

      I also like cookies, especially chewy peanut butter ones, but now my mom hides them. When my knees, feet and fingers get even puffier my mom says something is wrong.

      My dad says, Maybe you should take Zach to our family doctor.

      The doctor says Hmm, maybe the swelling is a reaction to something in the grass where you play soccer. But I tell him that I haven’t played soccer for a month. He gives me some sour tasting pills to take down the swelling. Not good sour like sour candy, just yucky and they don’t even make me feel as good as when I eat Sour Patch Kids.

      My mom and dad say it’s time for a second opinion, so back we go to another doctor. He squeezes my fingers, knees and feet until they hurt. He even takes my blood and it feels like a gallon of blood, out of my arm. I watch and it’s gross. Then we sit in his office waiting, staring at the walls and the red lights blinking on the phone.

      Finally, he comes back and he’s not smiling. He pulls his chair right in front of my mom.

      All the blood tests show that Zach has Juvenile Arthritis.

      But he’s just a kid, my mom says.

      I understand your surprise, it’s not a well-known fact that kids get arthritis, he says.

      I can tell my mom isn’t happy at what he’s saying but I’m not sure why.

      It’s not the kind of arthritis people get when they’re old. It’s an autoimmune disease. Here’s a pamphlet that explains everything, the doctor says handing my mom a little paper book with kids on the cover.

      We’ll watch him closely. Luckily it’s at an early stage, the doctor says.

      I’m not feeling very lucky.

      I never thought of myself as different until I got Juvenile Arthritis. But now I’m starting to feel different.

      CHAPTER 2

      ESPECIALLY DIFFERENT?

      Some of the kids at school think I’m lucky because I get to wear flip-flops to school but I feel weird because my toes and feet are so puffy. And in the morning when it’s really cold, my toes hurt.

      Now my soccer coach says Kids get Arthritis? Now that’s something I have never heard before, my dad says, Don’t let him bother you Zach, he just doesn’t know that kids can get arthritis, just like we didn’t."

      I stop playing soccer because my knees and feet hurt so much when I run. Now I just sit on the bench watching with all the parents and little kids. It makes me feel very not-special.

      I never feel special at the doctor’s office. They take a lot of pictures of me with big machines. The pictures are called X-rays, which sounds scary to me, like x-ray vision or something. I close my eyes and pretend I’m in a Fast and Furious car. The doctor talks to me from behind a glass window. I pretend that he’s my co-racer.

      Ready for countdown Zach? the technician says into a microphone behind the window.

      Ready, I say.

      5,4,3,2,1… the doctor says, and the machine roars as it takes pictures of me. I like this doctor because he tries to make scary things fun.

      The doctor’s nurse takes blood out of my arm and puts it in tubes. What if I run out of blood?

      Then they give me pills that I’m supposed to drink with some chocolate milk to coat my stomach. I love chocolate milk but my mom says we have to buy the non-fat kind so I won’t get puffier. It’s not as good, but it’s still chocolate. Every time I swallow a pill I pretend my muscles are getting bigger. I flexed for my dad and he smiles and says no, it’s my feet that are getting

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