| Raising funds for Buzzy pain relief |
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| Written by Contributor |
| Monday, 17 October 2011 12:44 |
 Fundraising event in aid of the Nuffield Orthopaedic Appeal for Oxford Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology Centre OxPARC. The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre is a pioneering and teaching hospital renowned worldwide for treating disease and damage to the musculoskeletal system. Oxford Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology Centre (OxPARC) is the Regional Paediatric Rheumatology Unit for South Central England.
Chronic (or long term) arthritis in children is more common than many people think, including many doctors. It occurs in one child in every thousand, which is slightly less frequent than diabetes. It is an inflammatory disease principally affecting the joints but may also affect other organs including the eyes.About 12,000 children in the UK under the age of 16 have a form of arthritis. Most kinds of childhood arthritis come under the general heading of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). JIA involves inflammation, pain and swelling in one or more joints for at least six weeks. You may hear it referred to as juvenile arthritis. The causes are unknown and there is no cure. Event organiser Fran Skinner told the CoastRider, “My grandson Rhys was diagnosed with Oligioarticular Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) in September 2010 the age of 6. Rhys couldn't move his elbow, ankle or foot due to huge swelling on his joints. After 12 weeks of puzzled GP’s and various trips to A&E he was referred to the Oxford Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology Centre (OxPARC) at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre (NOC).
The care Rhys receives from OxPARC is fantastic. They look after the concerns of the whole family and without that support my daughter and son-in-law honestly believe that they wouldn’t be coping as well as they are now. Rhys very rarely complains; he copes with the pain, had steroid injections in his joints and has a weekly injection of Methotrexate to keep the inflammation under control monitored by monthly blood tests. Rhys says he is just a normal boy, he just has JIA.” One of the ways Rhys deals with the injections and blood tests is ‘Buzzy’.
“Buzzy is a very cute vibrating bee with ice pack wings that decreases sharp pain when placed upstream. Buzzy® uses natural pain relief by confusing your body's own nerves and distracting attention away from the poke, thereby dulling or eliminating sharp pain. In the same way that rubbing a bumped elbow helps stop the hurt, or cool running water soothes a burn, Buzzy® bypasses sharp pain” www.buzzy4shots.co.uk
OxPARC have a wish list and on that list are some Buzzys for use in clinic and for children to borrow for injections administered at home. Rhys loves his ‘Buzzy’ and as they have just made an appearance in the UK (from the US) this is where any money raised will be spent. Fran wants to raise enough money to buy at least 10 Buzzys for OxPRAC. EVENT DETAILS Thursday 3rd November, 7.30pm at Los Rosales on the Lemon Tree Road Los Montesinos Come and join in, for a wonderful time and painlessly supporting the efforts to make JIA treatment as painless as possible for children like Rhys. For further information or conformation on my legitimate fundraising for NOC please contact Fran Skinner on 966795824
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