HER 23-DAY FEVER WAS CAUSED BY WHAT?

Byline: Mariko Thompson Staff Writer

For 23 straight days, Jordan Lee Wheeler ran a high fever that spiked at 105 degrees. The 14-year-old from Santa Clarita went to two different hospitals, where her symptoms stumped doctors.

Depending on the physician, parents Amy and Michael Schoepke heard diagnoses that ranged from leukemia to a psychological cry for attention. Then, as mysteriously as the fever and rash came, they were gone. Jordan went home.

But two weeks later, she was sick again. This time the family went to UCLA Medical Center, where rheumatology specialist Deborah McCurdy diagnosed Jordan with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

``That was the first time we heard about arthritis,'' Jordan says. ``We had no idea kids could get it too.''

Jordan, now 15, was honored at the Arthritis Foundation's Spring Walk and addressed more than 2,000 participants on Sunday. The annual walk raised more than $300,000 for arthritis research.

Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease marked by high and prolonged fevers, rashes and joint inflammation, affects an estimated 50,000 children. Like Jordan, many children experience difficulty in getting the correct diagnosis, says Sara Reeve, a spokeswoman for the Arthritis Foundation.

``We went through every test known,'' recalls Amy, Jordan's mother. ``We were getting tested for things like malaria, and nothing was coming up. Then all of the sudden they put a name on it.''

Until she received proper treatment, Jordan was bedridden and had dropped to 80 pounds. She has since recovered to the point where she can take classes at the College of the Canyons and pursue acting and modeling jobs, though she still feels pain sometimes in her hips and knees.

``We're on the road to recovery,'' Amy says. ``She's come through a whole lot, and her whole life changed in a heartbeat.''

For more information on the Arthritis Foundation, call [phone] or visit www.arthritis.org.

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JORDAN LEE WHEELER

John Lazar/Staff Photographer