Autoimmune Warrior

Girl with Autoimmune Disease Creates Teddy Bears that Hide IV Bags

Ella Casano was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition called Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Purpura (ITP) when she was just 7 years old. ITP is known to cause low platelet levels, excessive bruising and bleeding.

Now 12 years old, Ella receives IV infusions every 8 weeks to ease the symptoms of her condition. As part of a class project, she had to come up with a business idea, and, thinking about her experience with IV infusions and how scary the medical equipment can look to children, she came up with the idea of the “Medi-Teddy”, a teddy bear that hides IV bags.

Ella’s family started a GoFundMe page to raise $5,000 to provide 500 Medi-Teddies to kids in need. For more on this story and to learn how you can donate, click here.

British Columbia Mother Sues Over Breast Implant Risks

Samara Bunsko, 28, of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, is suing breast implant manufacturer Allergan over allegations that her implants caused her to develop various health issues, including hair loss, irregular thyroid and iron levels, headaches, fatigue and cysts.

Samara is the lead plaintiff in two proposed class action lawsuits against breast implant manufacturers, alleging that they did not disclose the risk of developing certain cancers or autoimmune diseases as a result of the implants.

Dr. Jan Tervaert, Director of Rheumatology at the University of Alberta’s School of Medicine, says that research shows that patients with a genetic predisposition for autoimmune disease have the highest risk of developing symptoms. Furthermore, patients who have had implants the longest are the least likely to experience a cessation in their symptoms once the implants are removed.

Health Canada is conducting a safety review of systemic symptoms caused by breast implants, including the development of autoimmune conditions. To learn more, click here.

Woman Describes her Experience with Multiple Autoimmune Diseases

Amy Hoey was a young teen when she began to experience a myriad of symptoms, including severely dry skin and body aches. She was told by professionals that she was likely just experiencing eczema and growing pains, when in fact, she had an autoimmune condition called psoriasis. Psoriasis can affect the joints and develop into psoriatic arthritis, which is what happened to Amy.

Later, Amy began to experience extreme fatigue, hair loss, kidney infections and chest pain. She went on to receive a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune condition in which the immune system attacks the thyroid gland.

She started to experience even more symptoms, including a butterfly-shaped rash on her face, mouth ulcers, and memory loss, which lead to the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus. Lupus causes damage to the body’s internal organs, skin and joints.

To top it off, Amy also has celiac disease, an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system damages the small intestine in response to consuming gluten, the protein found in wheat.

Amy felt like she constantly had the flu. Worse still, the physicians she worked with seemed to know little about autoimmune conditions, and one even Googled her conditions in front of her! She also has had allergic reactions to medications used to treat autoimmune disease, and also has a genetic condition that makes her more susceptible to infections, which can be a challenge, since many autoimmune treatments work by suppressing the immune system.

Amy says her best advice is to focus on what you can do, not what you can’t do. While she had a difficult time accepting this at first, since she used to be an athlete, maintaining a positive attitude and working with a knowledgeable rheumatologist have been helpful for her treatment.

To read more about Amy’s story, click here.