Your Life: Profile

The Little Man Named Sam
Arthritis Today, JULY-AUGUST 2006
by Beth Blaney

“Hey, ladies -- I’m here to get poked,” says five-year-old Sam Lincoln of Remington, Va., greeting nurses at the Lombardi Center for Children at Georgetown University Hospital. Sam goes there for monthly infliximab (Remicade) infusions to treat his juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), which he’s been battling since age one. Sam’s had a rough go of it. He’s faced four years of inflammation and pain. He’s never known remission. His wrists are usually swollen and some of his fingers and toes are curled inward where the disease has damaged his joints. He walks with visible stiffness, sometimes throwing his legs out to the side and then forward to move. He frequently runs fevers and he’s covered in rashes daily. Steroid treatments have kept him the same size for about three years now. “Sam only weighs about 33 pounds,” says his mother, Christina Lincoln. “He hasn’t gained any weight since he was two.”

Lucky for Sam, he’s got the unwavering love and support of a close-knit family  -- his mom and dad, his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and a younger brother. Lucky for the Lincolns, they have this inspiring little man, as they affectionately call him, in their lives.

“He’s an amazing kid,” says Christina. “From the beginning, he just adapted. When he couldn’t crawl, he would use his elbows to move. When that didn’t work, he’d scoot around on his bottom. There’s never been a time through all of this that Sam has lain in bed all day. He always gets up. He always gets dressed. And he always has a big smile,” she says.