Kaden Larson is a pianist, and he is passionate about music. Larson has Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. However, whenever he plays the piano, he forgets about the pain he is in and goes to a world where everything is musical and relaxing. Music could be a way to escape reality for anyone who is stressed or sad about anything.
Larson is a professor at Tyler Junior College, who teaches piano and music. Larson’s JRA makes his hands cripple up. As a child, Larson worked to keep his hands active by playing the piano. At first, he just wanted to play the piano just to keep his hands moving and active, but he discovered a lifelong passion.
“In elementary school, I was just taking piano lessons for fun. However, I started getting better at it. It was one of the first things I did as an extracurricular activity in middle school. My parents were like you should join the choir and sing,” Larson said. “I learned some singing in middle school choir. Then they had me play the piano to accompany the choir. That really kicked off a lot of skills for me.”
According to the John Hopkins Medicine website, “Unlike adult rheumatoid arthritis, which is ongoing (chronic) and lasts a lifetime, children often outgrow JRA. But the disease can affect bone development in a growing child.”
“When I was two, I was diagnosed with JRA. My hands were crippled up and my fingers couldn’t open. After a number of surgeries, therapies, treatments, and prayers. They were finally able to get my fingers open,” Larson said.
Larson took medication almost every week. He also got shots every week to help him and make sure the disease did not do harm to his body. Larson said he is thankful most of his JRA has gone. Larson’s arthritis is still with him today. Currently, he is in deep remission and it does not take a toll on him daily.
“Having to take medication, I still take injections of a medication called embroil. It is a tumor necrosis factor inhibitor. It makes my immune system stop fighting myself. That sucks too, especially when you’re a kid to have to get shots every week,” Larson said. “It occasionally flares up and the pain is just miserable, and you can’t really walk well. I have been so blessed though because a lot of it has gone away. I am in a deep remission, where it does not really affect me day to day anymore.”
JRA does not affect him that much, but he is active. He still visits the doctor to make sure everything is going well. Larson said the main thing with Arthritis is to keep his joints healthy and active.
“I’m still taking treatment for it. I still have visits to the doctor, and we are hopeful that it stays away. Also, that I do not get old and crippled. But I’ll just keep playing,” Larson said.
Larson and his wife love music, his family is passionate about music and has a musical background.
“My family’s pretty musical. However, I’m the only one who’s done music professionally in my immediate family. My mom has a couple of siblings who have done music professionally as well. There’s one who’s a professional guitarist, songwriter, and another who’s a professional rock drummer,” Larson said. “I have an aunt who sings a lot but, she has gotten more into visual arts. Doing classical music professionally, like I’m doing is kind of unique in my family.”
Larson does enjoy music because he thinks there is so much to it. People sometimes write songs about how they are feeling and express their emotion through a simple song. He also thinks it is emotionally rewarding and it can touch a lot of people’s hearts.
“There’s so much that you can do with music, and there is so many things that can be said and expressed. For me, music lessons turned out to be effectuate and a miracle for me. I am not crippled in my hands anymore,” Larson said. “It’s something that continues to be physical therapy. It’s also something that is deeply intellectually rewarding, emotionally rewarding, and can touch a lot of people. For me, the biggest thing that I care about music for is the beauty and the joy that it can bring into people’s lives.”
Stephanie Johnson is a music professor who works with Larson at TJC. Johnson said Larson is exceptionally good with students and the staff. She said she appreciates how he is willing to do anything for his students just to make sure they get down the material.
“Larson is a wonderful professional. I really appreciate his insight and his connection to details and is willing to go the extra mile. So, I appreciate getting to collaborate with him on that,” Johnson said.
Johnson said Larson does have an interest in people, especially when he starts working with a student. He sees his students and their goals they want to achieve in the future. She said Larson is a good person to everybody he meets.
“I think he has a true interest in people, and who they are, not just what they can do. I think he sees the person first. Then he looks at the goals that are the student is attempting to acquire or what the course requires. He works with the person first to get to those goals,” Johnson said.
Larson sometimes likes to perform with his wife.
Sometimes when an artist shares their feelings in a song, people tend to get the meaning and enjoy it.
“There’s so much good classical music that speaks something when we share it,” Larson said. “When we see it performed and shared with others, who might not have heard music before, they find it uplifting as a human element that is so exciting. Like wow, I felt something with that music.”
