I believed that arthritis was only for old people At the age of 15, one young reader was diagnosed with arthritis. And from that day onwards, his life changed words: GeorGe IvIl There is a light at the end of the tunnel I n the spring of 2013, I woke to find my eye feeling extremely bruised, like I had been struck in the eye. I carried on during the day thinking nothing of it, then went to bed in the evening. But it wasnt until I woke up the next morning that I knew something was seriously wrong. My eye felt worse than it had the day before, but now the light was unbearable. Not just from the lights within the house, but from the sunlight coming in. I took the day off school, was provided with Optrex from the local GP and hoped that the discomfort would go away. However, by midday, the pain was the worst Ive ever experienced. I was lying underneath a blanket, wearing a pair of sunglasses with a tissue wedged between the lens and my eye. I had to have all the lights off and the curtains drawn. My mum came home from work and rushed me straight to A&E. I was sent to the ophthalmology department where they instantly diagnosed me with uveitis (inflammation of the middle layer of the eye). The consultant told me that if I had left it much longer, I could have potentially gone blind in that eye. He then asked whether I had ever had any pain in my knees which, at the time, seemed a very strange question. But, over the past few months, especially after football, I had experienced pain in my knees and some slight swelling. The doctor felt my knees and had a strong suspicion as to the cause arthritis. At the time, I thought he must be mistaken. How can your knees and eyes be linked? I was referred to therheumatology department and began going to appointments to see if they thought that arthritis was the problem. During this time, not only did the knee pain start to get worse and occur more often, but I also contracted uveitis twice. I slowly started to notice a pattern when the pain was bad in my knees, the following day my uveitis would be back again. Still, aged 15, I rejected the idea of having arthritis and wanted to believe nothing was wrong with me. At such a young age, I believed that arthritis was only for old people. Playing his favourite sport big decisions The hospital still hadnt diagnosed me with arthritis, but said I was showing all signs of what patients with arthritis had, especially as I was HLA-B27 positive. They decided to offer me methotrexate in the form of an injection. At this time, I felt a bit lost. I was 15; a few months previously I was fit and healthy, and now I was having to make big decisions l ike this. With the help of my family, we decided the best way forward was to start taking the weekly dosage of medicine. To begin with I tolerated the medication it made me feel slightly tired and I didnt particularly look forward to it but I could put up with it. Then, after about a month, it really started to kick in. It made me feel horrendous. It took every bit of life out of me. I would sit there in the night, not having the energy to move and knowing if I did, Id probably vomit. But I still managed to remain positive about it all and realised that it was doing me good. However, a few weeks later, I was diagnosed with uveitis again, despite being on 15mg of methotrexate. This hit me hard, as I was putting up with this awful medication and, after all that, it wasnt doing what it was supposed to. Now I was beginning to worry about losing or damaging my sight. Having to study for my GCSEs was a stressful time anyway, but having to cope with this as well was far too much. I was ready to give up. I knew I was changing as a person and it was all because of this horrible disease. I was finally diagnosed with arthritis, and I was also told that I needed to up my medication to 20mg of methotrexate. This was something that I really did not want to do; however, I knew it was for the best. I began to start isolating myself not seeing friends and not playing football. My personality started to change, too. On the day of my injection I become rude to my siblings and parents I just wanted to be alone. This was not me at all. I had always been a polite and sociable person, yet this medication seemed to be taking full control. I started to try and find ways of coping with it. I would shower straight after my injection and would also eat an apple before or after. For some reason, these seemed to help calm me down. I still rejected the idea that I had arthritis, and I was adamant they were wrong. accepting the truth It wasnt until November when I well and truly knew that I did have this horrible disease. I became very ill one week and was told to stop my medication. I was admitted to hospital and the doctors feared that I may be having a reaction to the medicine. They ran some tests and, in the end, just prescribed some antibiotics. This was the first time that I had missed an injection. At the time it felt great; however, I woke up one morning and realised that my knee was quite puffy. I went to school but during the day my knee felt really weird. It restricted my walking ability and felt like it was going to give way. As soon as I got home I took my trousers off, and I could see that my knee was swelling rather badly. I could still walk, but with a limp. My parents made me sit with my leg up, some ice and anti-inflammatory tablets, and we just expected it to go down. But the next morning I woke up to find that it had nearly doubled in size. My kneecap was starting to displace and I had lost nearly all movement in my leg. I sat all day with my knee up, taking tablets and hoping that the knee would drain. But it just got bigger. My parents called the community nurse, who took one look at my knee and advised me to go to the hospital, where I was told that I would need to have it drained. I knew this would be painful, but all I wanted was to be able to walk properly again. That night, once I finally got home, my dad had to carry me to bed. At the age of eight this is George and fun when youre 15, its embarrassing. girlfriend Holly After all this, I started to realise that I did, in fact, need this medication, and I did have arthritis, something I really did not want to accept. During this time I was undergoing counselling and was seeing a psychologist, as it was now starting to affect me mentally as much as it was physically. I began to struggle even more with taking my methotrexate I would start vomiting before and seconds after the injection, and it was putting me off food. I lost nearly three stone and weighed seven and half stone. turning a corner I rejected the idea that I had arthritis, and I was adamant they were wrong During my first appointment at UCLH (University College London Hospital), doctors explained how they would apply for me to be able to start having Humira injections and would slowly bring me off methotrexate, as I felt the medication was ruining my life. After numerous check-ups, my application was finally accepted and I started the medication. It hurt, but it was fantastic. I never though Id be excited over an injection, but it was amazing. I felt fine after having it, and it was slowly starting to give me some of my life back. However, while the medication started to get better, my knees seemed to get worse. My love has always been football, but six months ago I was told that it was not safe for me to play any more. This was hard, as I loved playing football with my mates it made me forget about having all these health problems, and it was an escape. I also had to stop learning to drive in a manual car as the use of the clutch became too painful for my knee. Not only did I miss more than a month of school during my GCSEs, but in year 12 I was having time off, too. My body was exhausted; I would come home from sixth form and just sleep for hours. One night I went to watch Tottenham play with a group of friends. The morning after, I was in agony I couldnt walk properly as my knees were too weak and I had to stay at home. My physio explained that because of the swelling around my knee, my muscles were not strong enough and I needed to go to the gym to make them stronger. This is where Im at now. My methotrexate dosage has now halved and Im continuing on Humira. Im yet to have another flare-up of uveitis and my knees are stable, but simple activities such as walking up and down stairs and walking the dog have now become hard tasks to manage. At one stage during my journey, I didnt think I could get any lower I was on the brink of giving up but I want people going through what I have to know there is a reason to be positive. I have now put back on the weight I lost; I passed all my GCSEs with grades A to C; I passed my driving test in an automatic car; I passed my AS levels with grades A to C, and I continue to help train my football team. And yes, I still go and support my football team, Tottenham Hotspur. Through the support of my great friends, my girlfriend, my family and the great teams at Southend University Hospital and UCLH, I have managed to adapt my life so that I am able to get on as normally as possible. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.