Behind My Smile

This book has been written jointly by nine–year-old Bethany and her mum Julie. It highlights the devastating effect that Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis had on Bethany’s life. In all, 26 of her joints were affected-from the jaw to the ankle. After a traumatic first year Julie could take no more of Bethany’s plight when given the chance to see a Rheumologist, she sobbed ‘please help give my child back her childhood’. Bethany was unable to talk about her illness; she locked her pain and desperation away just showing the pain at times by screaming and kicking out at her mum. Later Bethany found an unusual way of expressing her pain-through the piano. Her mum asked her to “describe” the pain joint by joint. If she hammered at the keys her pain was intense, if the sound was softer things were not so bad. This started to calm her world and bring her back from a very dark place. Ages 9-12 yrs.