Five years ago, my daughter was diagnosed with juvenile dermatomyositis, and it turned our lives upside down. The medications used to treat it - oral and intravenous steroids, chemotherapy/methotrexate, Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG), and others all have terrible side effects, and since there is no standard protocol for treatment, quality of care varies quite a bit and is really dependent on the doctor's level of experience and knowledge. In our case, the first rheumatologist that treated my daughter did NOT use the most up-to-date learnings and as a result, she relapsed after five months of treatment. Because of the information and support we received from Cure JM, we were able to determine that her treatment was not sufficient, and transfer her care to a JM expert. She has been improving ever since. I shudder to think where we might be today were it not for Cure JM, and I have personally seen this same story play out over and over again with other families. Cure JM has an incredibly direct impact on those affected by this disease, and I will be eternally grateful to have it as a resource.