12-year-old Bushkill girl, suffering from arthritis, uses Sunday's Arthritis Walk to educate public

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Arthritis is not only for the old

12-year-old Bushkill girl, suffering from arthritis, uses Sunday's Arthritis

Walk to educate public

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a Burmeister, 12, woke up one day earlier this year and couldn't

straighten the middle finger of her right hand.

The girl's parents, Ed and Robin, took her to the hospital to get it

X-rayed. There was no evidence of a break, but the doctor put it in a soft

splint in case it was sprained.

After the splint came off, the finger was still crooked. The Burmeisters

knew something was wrong.

A blood test confirmed the diagnosis: juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, an

autoimmune disease that causes the joint linings to inflame. It afflicts

300,000 children across the United States, and 3,000 in Pennsylvania,

according to the Arthritis Foundation.

" Our lives changed the day we got that diagnosis, " said Ed Burmeister, 55.

So did a's hopes for the future. Her career ambition, to become an

interpreter of American Sign Language, will be put on hold, unless a cure

comes along or her disease goes into remission.

a suffers from a strain of the disease known as polyarticular juvenile

rheumatoid arthritis. It means she has arthritis in five or more joints:

fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders and jaw. She also limps on her right leg

because the arthritis has cinched its hold on her hip and knee.

" Everyone thinks arthritis is for the old, " Ed said, " and it's not. "

The arthritis is agonizing. On a scale of one to 10, a said the pain is

a nine. " It feels like you snapped it in half, " she said quietly, describing

her afflicted joints. She also copes with painful nodules - inflamed bumps

that protrude from the skin. " It feels like bones are coming out of your

body, " said Robin Burmeister, 48.

Since the diagnosis, a and her parents have curtailed what they can do.

Swimming, once one of her favorite activities, became much more difficult.

So did simpler things, such as walking and sitting for long stretches. Many

times, she has to forego simple pleasures such as shopping trips or going to

the movies. When the family does go on long drives, a has to stretch

across the back seat to keep from stiffening up.

At Lehman Intermediate, which a attends, her friends carry her books for

her. She writes with a special pen to alleviate pressure on her fingers and

is allowed to take more time to get from one class to the next.

Life at home changed, too. Scaling the stairs to enter their home in Saw

Creek Estates is sometimes impossible. Ed and Robin said they often carry

their daughter up the stairs. They administer shots of medicine to her three

days a week.

For Ed and Robin Burmeister, a's condition has become an obsession. " I

won't stop until I find a cure, " Ed said. To help this process, the family

is promoting the local Arthritis Walk on Sunday, which starts at East

Stroudsburg University. a is an " ambassador " for the event, which means

she will deliver remarks.

The Burmeisters hope that the walk will not only provide money to find a

cure, but also raise awareness. " I'm sure somewhere in the Poconos, another

mother is watching her child become stiff, " Robin said.

" If one person calls me and says, 'I think this is happening to my child', "

Ed said, " then I succeeded. "