Rox Family: Benefiting Cure JM in honor of Jo!
Your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Coffey Family Match!
- Click Donate Now to make an online gift.
- Checks can be made out to Cure JM and mailed to Cure JM, P.O. Box 45768, Baltimore, MD 21297.
Every gift helps children battling Juvenile Myositis. Juvenile Myositis turns a young life upside down. The immune system loses control and the body attacks itself. It can steal a child's ability to walk, play, or even swallow.
Right now, there are no FDA-approved treatments or a cure, but we can change that!
With your support, Cure JM is leading the way in groundbreaking JM research. There are now more new treatments in development for JM than ever before.
We are optimistic that several of the drugs we have in the research pipeline will improve the lives of our children:
·One drug is a possible steroid replacement—a new steroid with far fewer side effects.
·Another has already shown improvement in muscle strength and skin conditions in JM patients.
·Both of these drugs are on their way to clinical trials in JM patients.
This extraordinary progress is made possible by friends and family like you!
Jo’s journey with JDM
2020 - In Spring 2020,my daughter, Jo, was diagnosed with Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM), a rare and incurable disease that strikes about 3 in a million children. The normally rambunctious child went from running every day in PE to barely being able to walk down the street. She started falling if she tried to walk. She couldn’t raise her arms, lift her legs, stand up, get into cars, or even get enough energy to participate in her favorite Easter activity: the egg hunt. She also had noticeable dark circles under her eyes, called a heliotrope rash. She went to the hospital to start to heal and reverse the muscle damage the disease had caused.
The past year, Jo often attended school by Zoom from the hospital where she was attached to an IV for hours, receiving lifesaving immunoglobulin. Every week, her meds caused her to throw up and suffer headaches. Months of steroids caused her to gain weight and suffer from “moon face,” a side effect that made her too self-conscious to even be seen on camera in class. She went to physical therapy and started yoga and eventually began to rebuild her muscles.
2021 - A year after diagnosis, things are improving for Jo. She has discontinued most of her meds and has begun her journey for medical remission. If she goes all year without her disease flaring, she'll go into full remission and return to the classroom. Hopefully, she'll be one of the lucky kids who can put this disease permanently behind her.
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