Meet Mary and George
I am a mother of three children George who is 13, Katerina 11 and Chrystiane 7. My son George was diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis and Uveitis at the age of 2. He is a boy who has a permanent smile on his face even though he has pain everyday of his life. George is truly an inspiration to all who know him. He loves to wash cars, mow the lawns and ride his bike when he is well.
George commenced high school this year at a special needs class he enjoys school very much when he is able to attend, with this disease he is undergoing surgery and treatments on a continual basis which takes him away from school, but when he is at school he is happy and enjoys spending time with his peers.
George was diagnosed with Uveitis at the age of 5 in his left eye and has extensive loss of vision from Uveitis, at the age of 8 Georges right eye has been affected from Uveitis so his vision is very poor due to the damage that Uveitis is causing.
The cause of Arthritis is unknown! He was diagnosed at 2 years of age with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and Uveitis at 5 years of age.
George is on a drug called Methatrixiate on a weekly basis and has been on this drug for the past 9 years this is drug is a low dose of chemotherapy. He also is admitted on a monthly basis into hospital to have an infusion of Infliximab which is all to try and control the inflammation in his eyes and joints, but they are all trail drugs. George has had 40 operations from steroid injections to major surgery on his eyes to control and restore the remaining vision in his eyes.
Research is the beginning of finding a cure , we have opened the first laboratory in Australia and New Zealand through our fundraising effort for Arthritis and Uveitis. Research is the key here as the more we learn the affects of this disease the faster it will enable the professors to find a cure.
Save Sight Institute, I believe will and try to treat and control the children suffering from Uveitis and other conditions that affect our children. Save Sight Institute gives parents like myself comfort knowing that the very best Drs and professors have the same vision of trying to find the causes and treat Uveitis.
As a parent I wanted not only to help my son but the thousands of other children suffering from this condition and that is where I took the challenge of raising funds through fundraising, this enables me to understand the disease and raise much needed funds to treat and find a cure for the most important people in our lives OUR CHILDREN! To hold these fundraising events is not an easy challenge but it does not compare to having a child who has pain and has minimal vision on a daily basis. We as parents only want the best for our children and in order to give them the best quality of life we need to also give them answers and by donating and raising funds will only give us a better understanding of this disease.
Mary Kranitis has led the way in fighting for the sight of her son George. She has organised the Juvenile Arthritis Fundraiser which has raised $290,000. For more information on Mary and George's fight for sight, visit their website here.