2026 – Jane Webb – Davis high HS

PJIA – My Story

When I was thirteen (2021), I went in for a braces consultation and learned news that would change my life. My dentist took scans of my mouth and discovered that the bones that connect the bottom of your jaw and the top of your jaw in my mouth were deteriorating. I had had a lot of pain in my jaw, it popped and locked and clicked a lot, opening my mouth wide was very hard and painful, as well as when I tried to chew tough things. I didn’t know before this was all found out that this was not normal. It was a scary couple of months trying to figure out what was going on, as well as being in seventh grade and going through puberty. Nine months later I was diagnosed with Polyarticular Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (PJIA) and TMJ and TMB. We learned that when I started puberty I got arthritis in my jaw and it deteriorated that bone in my mouth and we needed to get it to stop so eventually, I could get jaw surgery. This led to me getting a rheumatologist and lots of doctors visits. I have doctors appointments every 3 months, many blood tests, MRI’s every 6-8 months, and lots of medicine.  I started on Humira, a shot taken every other week to try and get the arthritic fluid out of my jaw, it didn’t work. We tried 3 or four more shots taken weekly and none of them worked either. 5 years later I started on Methotrexate, a shot that I take every week, most usually used for cancer treatment. This makes me so sick and I hate it. It has been the most challenging part of this whole journey. We aren’t sure if this medicine is working but we are hopeful it is so I can get a jaw implant as soon as possible.

Going to school while going through this was hard at the beginning but I have gotten good at it. It is very scary going through so much unknown especially because I didn’t know anyone else going through it. I struggled to go to school because I often felt sick because of the medicine I was on or because it messed up my immune system and I got sick a lot because of that. I also struggled because I had a lot of anxiety about the unknown and about what would happen to me. Another reason I struggled because the shape of my face changed when the bones disintegrated and for a long time I felt insecure about the way I looked. But I have gotten over most of that and I am doing much better now. The biggest thing for me has always been that I don’t want people to feel bad for me, because I don’t feel bad for myself. It happened and there was no changing it so I didn’t want everyone feeling sorry for me. Yes it was very hard and continues to be, but I try my hardest to have a more positive outlook on it now than I did before.