GREEN BAY – Local six-year-old Kiana Knoespel has become a strong advocate for juvenile arthritis awareness, maintaining a positive attitude while highlighting a condition that affects around 300,000 kids in the U.S., according to the American College of Rheumatology.
Kiana was diagnosed at age three after she began telling her parents about her joint pain.
“Honestly, we thought she was just trying to get out of going to bed,” said Sheena Knoespel, Kiana’s mom. “She kept complaining and we’d put her to bed and then she’d be like, ‘My knee hurts, mom.’
She would walk out and say it hurt so bad. It was a friend who said, ‘I don’t want to scare you, but my sister had a tumor on her knee. It might be worth getting checked out.’ And so then we did labs… That’s where she was diagnosed.”
Since then, the Knoespels have found support through groups like the Arthritis Foundation and their local community.
“The community has really embraced us, and I mean that in multiple ways. The community that we’ve met through the Arthritis Foundation has been a godsend. A woman I met in De Pere — her daughter Lily just graduated high school — and they’ve been navigating this journey. They were able to give me hope and guide us — do these things, ask for this. So through that, the arthritis community has been huge,” said Sheena.
Their hometown has stepped up as well.
“We live in Pulaski, a small town. Kiana’s school did a dress-up week, and on World Juvenile Arthritis Day, they dressed in blue and green for her and all the kids with arthritis. They really embraced us and helped us raise money,” Sheena said. “Finding friends and my husband’s support has helped, too. I think being more vocal about [arthritis] has made it a little more normalized for us and helped get it off of my chest, too.”
July is juvenile arthritis awareness month, highlighting the critical shortage of pediatric rheumatologists, which Sheena said has affected their care in the past.
“We are thankfully good right now. We have Dr. Tuttle in Green Bay or Appleton, depending on which location we see him. But before that we had to drive to Children’s Wisconsin in Milwaukee, and the next step was Minnesota,” she said. “And so we were really, really struggling with that...It affected us with getting access to her care right away.”
When she’s not advocating for arthritis and inspiring those around her, Kiana enjoys a variety of hobbies, including crafts, swimming and gymnastics.
“[Going to arthritis events] makes me happy,” said Kiana. “And I got a bunch of prizes.”
“I’m incredibly proud to see her growth,” said Sheena. “It started with her being able to share that her body hurts and tell other people than her mom and dad. So it started really small. “[Now] she’s able to speak about what her arthritis is. I’m proud that she’s finding her voice at six years old. I’m especially proud that her sisters are becoming little advocates...Our friends, their kids and their friends — they’re speaking about it.”
The Pass it Forward™ internship program is sponsored by the Packers Give Back and Nicolet National Bank.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here