Living with rheumatoid arthritis: Sadiq’s story
Living with rheumatoid arthritis: Sadiq’s story
Many think of arthritis as a condition that affects only the elderly. However, about three in 1,000 Canadian children are diagnosed with the disease.
When Sadiq was only six years old, he was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis – a condition that caused pain and swelling in his joints. “I knew that I wasn’t going to be a regular normal kid,” Sadiq says.
Now an aspiring professional golfer in Canada, Sadiq has taken control of his arthritis and says that it’s his motivator to work hard and chase his dream of becoming a professional athlete. Watch the video above to hear Sadiq’s story.
My name is Sadiq Jiwa and I’m an aspiring professional golfer. My dream is to play professional golf on the PGA tour.
I started playing golf when I was around 11 years old. I started out as a competitive hockey player.
I found out that I got arthritis at the age of six. My first reaction when I was diagnosed was mainly confusion. I would notice swelling in my joints, excess pain, more so than a six-year-old kids would have just from doing normal activities.
As I got diagnosed with my arthritis, and as I grew up with it, I realized I couldn’t play hockey anymore.
I knew I had to pick a sport, if I was going to keep playing, that was less contact-oriented, that wouldn’t hurst as much. And my parents introduced me to golf, and I kind of ran with it after that.
If I could never play golf again, I would be devastated. It means the world to me. Golf is part of the drive that I have to be the best at everything I am.
It allows me to be competitive in situations that I haven’t always been able to do before, especially dealing with a condition like I do.
The biggest challenge that I have with the arthritis is the unpredictability factor. At any given moment, I could have a sharp jolt of pain come into one of my joints. Or one of my joints could swell up.
The most recent example being a U.S. Amateur qualifier, I was right in the hunt for gaining a spot and I had to withdraw from the tournament. And it’s heartbreaking, and I felt sad at the time, but really it’s more of a motivator for me.
It gets me up the next day working harder to make sure that I manage the condition as best as I can but also become a better player.
The way I’ve dealt with my arthritis has evolved. As I got competitive with golf, I had to take a more competitive and different approach to my arthritis, which I call it a management or proactive approach to it.
Being on this treatment plan allows me to compete at the highest level. This treatment plan has allowed me to take a shot at my dream, which is playing professional golf.
And I’m going to do that, but one step at a time, just the way I handle my arthritis. One step at a time.
Talk to your doctor about ways to manage your rheumatoid arthritis.