I am 27 years old and it was discovered that I have Juvinile (then Reuhamatoid) now Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) when I was 10 years old. It was realized due to the fact there was significant inflamation in my right eye. They did all sorts of tests on me and decided there was no cause for my disorder (funny the disorder came to be re-named idiopathic, which means "cause unknown"). I had some joint problems and a limited range of movement in my knees and hips, and the biggie was my eye. I had cataract surgery when I was 12 years old. I had had injections in my eye prior to that as well as oral steroids to try to combat the inflamations in my eye and other body parts. I struggled with my eye for a long time afterwards, and my bad joints have now just become a fact of life for me. But I have recently started having headaches behind and above my right eye, the same one that I had problems with. My left eye is unaffected, by the way. I decided to go to the opthamoligist who had tracked my progress previously (it had been 5 years since I had seen an eye doctor due to the fact that I had no insurance). I figured that my headaches and further blurred vision was due to the protiens that stuck to my lens (called senechae..sp?) that was due to the inflamation. Unfortunately, the doc looked at my eye and said there is very little coverage of my lens with the senechae and that I had a "cupped optical nerve". GLAUCOMA! It was caused by the "pressure" in my eye being continuously too high. Now I am really worried that I won't ever be able to see again! I have seen a retinal specialist who has referred me to a glucoma specilaist, and also a rheumatologist to be placed on medication for my jointal arthritis. I am so terrified that they will find something wrong with me that no medicine can really help. Each visit with a specialist is going to cost me from $200 to $800, along with travel expenses because one one of the specialists is in my state. I have medicaid, but it does not cover my out of state expenses since the specialists don't accept out of state medicaid. This is getting rediculously expensive and scary. I just wish I had some support in all of this. So, has anyone else out there been through this? None of my friends understand it and my mom is the only one who comprehends what is going on because she has been there with me every step of the way. My husband is supportive in it, but he barely understands the common cold, much less a complex rare arthritic disorder... He is there with me, but I have no idea how to explain it all to him. One must understand the workings and parts of the eye before they can comprehend this disorder and what it is doing to me, and he did not excell in his health courses in school. I just want a friend who understands for support, who I can discuss this with. I need the hope and strength of a companion with a similar disorder or even the same one. Please contact me at therin_acean@yahoo.com if you would like to talk. This was written on 10-21-09 but I would respond years from now if I got a letter. Thank you for reading this. God Bless You!