MISSOULA — Managing a chronic condition is challenging enough. But imagine there's no nearby doctor to treat it, much less diagnose it.
That was the reality for many Montana families with children who have juvenile arthritis. But that has all changed to a new doctor in Missoula.
Abby Gillin is a busy 15-year-old who is involved in cheerleading and track and nothing slows her down, not even her idiopathic polyarticular arthritis.
It’s a condition Abby has had for as long as she can remember. Not that they ever had a name for it.
“Even since a kid, I wasn’t able to crawl,” Abby recalled. “I always crawled with my fists. Once I got old enough, I was doing gymnastics and stuff and could never do a handstand or anything with my hands, and that evolved to my mom questioning it. And then for a short period of time, we thought I had cancer.”
It wasn’t cancer, but rather juvenile arthritis — something the Arthritis Foundation says affects nearly 300,000 kids in the United States.
It took pediatric rheumatologist Dr. Julie Campbell to finally diagnose what was wrong.
“One thing is that a lot of people don’t realize kids can get arthritis. It seems like very much an old person disease. Kids think that adults think that, doctors think that. It is missed all the time,” Campbell told MTN.
Campbell, who is originally from Bozeman, is the state’s only pediatric rheumatologist and she's headquartered in Missoula.
Although more people are going into this field, the Arthritis Foundation says there is a critical shortage of doctors like Campbell, which leaves families like Abby’s waiting — often painfully — for a diagnosis and treatment.
“It is really rewarding when we do know exactly what it is. And there are days and patients like Abby where it’s been a mystery for them,” Campbell explained. “But as soon as I see them, I know it’s definitely arthritis. There's nothing else this could be. “
Campbell’s presence in Missoula will allow families from around the region to get the care and the answers they need.
“Having Doctor Campbell here has been really nice. And she seems to be a great doctor. She’s explained a lot to us and working with Abby,” Abby’s dad, Mike Gillen said. “And Abby’s attitude of willing to do whatever really helps a lot.“
These days, Abby is putting in the miles to get her driver’s license and as one of the most upbeat people we’ve ever met, she faces her diagnosis with a smile.
“Why complain about it the whole time? There’s so much more you can be doing instead of complaining,” Abby said. “Because when you complain, you're really just wasting time.”
The Arthritis Foundation provides information and resources for families experiencing this kind of autoimmune disease at https://www.arthritis.org/.
