A Metro Detroit figure skater is battling a condition that attacks her bones, which would seem like a bad match for ice, but she is skating on.
She told Local 4 that she has a message for other kids facing similar challenges.
The condition is called Chronic Recurrent Multifocal Osteomyelitis (CRMO), and it can be mistaken for growing pains.
It causes pain and inflammation, most often in the long bones of a child’s legs, but it can also affect the pelvis or spine. It’s just one more obstacle she’s leaping above.
Figure skating is hard enough. Launching into the air, rotating twice, and landing on a one-sixteenth-inch piece of steel is even more challenging. Now, imagine doing it with a condition that causes bone lesions.
“Well, like, the spots that had lesions in them, like, I would feel throbbing pain,” said figure skater Jett Vanschoten.
Vanschoten, 12, is battling the autoimmune disorder that most often strikes kids.
There’s no known cause or cure. Vanschoten’s own immune system attacks normal, healthy bones.
“In some children, it’s very mild, and in others, it’s very severe and debilitating, and it prevents them from going to school or participating in sports,” said Pediatric Rheumatologist Michigan Medicine Dr. Nadine Saad.
Vanschoten’s symptoms began three years ago when a lump appeared under her knee—treatments for CRMO range from anti-inflammatories to immunosuppressants.
“Once they’re started on treatment, we usually follow up with MRIs, about every three to six months, to make sure that the lesions are getting better, or if they’re changing,” Saad said.
Vanschoten is on a combination of meds that allow her to continue skating, and says kids with CRMO should also pursue their passions.
“Like, you should probably do a sport if you have it because it’s, like, I guess, really good for you, and it gets your mind off of it,” Vanschoten said. “I mean, I feel proud of myself and that I’ve been able to do all this. Yeah, I feel pretty good about it.”
CRMO is most common in girls, beginning at about age nine or 10.
It’s sometimes diagnosed along with inflammatory bowel disease or psoriasis.
It’s uncommon, but the number of cases increases as doctors and patients become more aware of this condition.
For parents asking about the difference between CRMO and typical growing pains, growing pains tend to last a few days or a week, while CRMO can last much longer.
Growing pains tend to happen at night, whereas CRMO also causes pain during the day, and if your child has pain that is causing them to limp or limit their activity, that would be another reason to get it checked out.