http://www.mjsite.com saves this page so readers can
view old news that may not still be availible elsewhere.
This is a saved page of
Waltham girl doesn't let affliction get her down (The Daily News Tribune)
This is a copy we made of the page on 02-Sep-2006.
The original page may or may not still be availible and pictures and text may
have changed since then.
Click Here to view the original page at the original
website.
DailyNewsTribune.com - Local / Regional News: Waltham girl doesn’t let affliction get her down
Waltham girl doesn’t let affliction get her down
By Jennifer Roy/ Daily News Staff
Thursday, August 31, 2006 - Updated: 01:48 AM EST
WALTHAM -- Annierose Klingbeil was just 3 when she was diagnosed with a disease many people believe only strikes the old or the weak.
The normally energetic toddler who once bounded down the stairs from her bedroom in the morning, began asking for piggyback rides or resorted to sliding down on her backside, her mother Betty Reed said.
Reed said she and her husband, Uli Klingbeil, didn’t think much of it at first, since young children often ask to be carried.
But when Annierose’s thumb, ankle and knee inexplicably began to swell, they knew something was wrong. They took her to Children’s Hospital and soon learned their daughter had juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
The couple also has a 4 1/2-year-old son, Daniel.
"I knew that kids could get arthritis, but I didn’t know how," Reed, a Belmont resident, said. "They think that something triggers it, but they really don’t know yet."
Annierose is now 9, and manages her disease by swimming in a heated therapy pool at Waltham’s HealthPoint once a week, and by soaking in warm baths, Reed said.
"They have a great program. When you exercise in the water, you take the weight off your joints," she said.
Reed said Annierose has been swimming in the 93-degree pool for five years.
She said flare-ups -- bouts of stiffness -- are tough because they really slow her outgoing daughter down.
"You would probably never know Annierose has arthritis, because she never walks into a room, she bounces, jumps, skips and runs. Her indomitable spirit has been a strong avenger to her illness," Reed said. "But then pain can come up suddenly. One day she can be the fastest runner in her class, the next day she may be limping down the stairs."
She said her daughter was able to join soccer and basketball teams for the first time last year.
"She is very active. She is full of energy," Reed said. "Sometimes it slows her down."
Annierose is also very shy, according to her mother, but is looking forward to serving as the youth ambassador for the Arthritis Foundation’s 10th Anniversary Boston Arthritis Walk.
"I want to be ambassador of the Boston Arthritis Walk, because I want people to learn that kids can get arthritis, and I also want them to find a cure," she said.
Annierose endured three and a half years of weekly injections of a chemotherapy drug, and was in remission for six months. The disease returned, but a new medication eliminated the need for injections.
"She’s a trouper," Reed said.
Mary Halpin, vice president of development for the Massachusetts chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, said many people are unaware that children get arthritis, which is why it is not uncommon for the organization to choose youth ambassadors.
"Arthritis affects all ages from 9 months to 90-something," she said.
According to Halpin, 300,000 children in the United States are affected by juvenile arthritis. She said one in four adults also have the disease.
"I think people are quiet about it, and think there is nothing they can do about it," she said.
[continue]
Annierose Klingbeli is looking forward to serving as the youth ambassador or the Arthritis Foundation’s 10th Anniversary Boston Arthritis Walk. (Contributed photo)
E-mail
Printable
Popular
