09/12/2026
🦾 NEW HERE? MEET IAN.
Ian was 8 when JIA picked this fight.
Polyarticular Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.
And if you hear “juvenile arthritis” and picture a kid with achy joints, I don’t blame you. I had NO idea what this disease was capable of either.
For 8 years, we’ve watched it attack Ian’s body.
His knees. His fingers. His toes. Eventually both of his jaw joints.
His fingers & toes progressively twisted and deformed. He hurt. A LOT.
We fought back the best way we knew how. Weekly methotrexate & Humira injections. Bloodwork. Specialists. Medications. Appointments. More injections. Again & again.
Those medications helped fight the inflammation, but they couldn’t undo the damage JIA had already caused.
Then COVID hit.
Because his immune system was suppressed, keeping Ian safe meant keeping him away from everyone else.
At first, telling a kid he didn’t have to physically go to school sounded like he’d won the lottery.
That excitement didn’t last.
Eventually the isolation took its own toll.
Socially. Emotionally. Mentally.
That’s the part of childhood chronic illness people don’t always see.
But the biggest physical battle was quietly happening in his face.
JIA destroyed both of Ian’s jaw joints and affected how his face grew.
By 16, his airway had narrowed to a dangerous 2mm. (Average is 10mm)
We knew what needed to be done.
We just had to wait YEARS for him to finish growing enough to do it.
Finally, on August 24th, 2026 it was time. ❤️🩹
After 7+ hours of surgery, both destroyed jaw joints were replaced with custom titanium prosthetics while surgeons broke, repositioned & rebuilt his facial structure. Advancing his profile by 21mm.
For once, I wasn’t watching JIA take something from my son.
I was watching them rebuild what it took. ❤️🩹
But this surgery is NOT the end of Ian’s fight.
It’s potentially the first of several.
There is still damage to his fingers & toes that will require future surgeries to repair.
This isn’t a finish line.
It’s the beginning of rebuilding what JIA has taken from him.
And THAT is why I made this page.
Not just to document a jaw surgery.
I want people to know Ian. The little boy who started this fight at 8. The teenager who somehow kept living his life in the middle of it. The hard days, funny days, surgeries, victories, setbacks, ridiculous smoothie creations and probably plenty of appearances from “the Doods.” 🐾
Most importantly, I want Ian to see just how many people are standing in his corner.
Kids can so easily get lost in the shuffle of doctors, surgeries, medications & adults making decisions around them.
I want Ian to know he is seen, heard & supported by the same village I see rallying around him.
He reads your comments.
And y’all, he LOVES them. 💙
So follow along. Ask questions. Share his story. Leave him something to read.
Welcome to Team Ian. 🦾❤️🩹
Same warrior. Different chapter. More tomorrows. That’s the goal.
