My Fundraising Goal:
$1,000.00 |
Money Raised to Date:
$370.00 |
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If you are unable to donate online, please print out a donation form. |
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| Join me in my efforts to support Arthritis Foundation, Wisconsin Chapter!
| This holiday season I will tie bells to my shoelaces and dust off my reindeer antlers as I participate in the Jingle Bell Run/Walk® for Arthritis, a 5K fun run/walk to benefit the Arthritis Foundation. And YOU can help, too!
Most people think you have to be old to have Arthritis, but that is not always the case. The term Arthritis is widely misunderstood by the general population. Did you know that the word “arthritis” is a term for more than 100 diseases and conditions? Two of the most common are Osteoarthritis, the type of arthritis that most people think of when they think of arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis, also known as RA which is the type that I have. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative “wear & tear” arthritis whereas RA is an auto-immune disease.
Basically what happens in RA is the immune system mistakes the body’s own cells as invaders and attacks them resulting in inflammation that causes pain and damages tissues and joints. It can also affect other bodily organs such as your heart, lungs, eyes and skin. The disease is also coupled with severe fatigue. No one knows what causes this to happen, but many believe that it is a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Unfortunately RA can occur at any age including children and even infants. RA affects 1% of the US population or 2.1 million people.
Before being diagnosed with RA, I was a completely healthy person. One morning about 4 years ago at the age of 23 I woke up with numbness in my right hand. It was the same feeling that you get when your foot falls asleep, except in this case, it lasted almost the entire day. The next day I had a pain in my hand. It hurt to open it up. I went into see a doctor and he thought I might have tendonitis, so he gave me a splint to wear on my finger. Well, that made it much worse, so they knew it was definitely not tendonitis. I went back in to see my primary doctor. She looked at my ankles which I thought was very odd at the time to see if they were swollen. What do you know, they were and I had no idea. She gave me a prescription for an anti-inflammatory and ran several tests. When she got the results back, she referred me to a Rheumatologist. Since I would be a new patient, I of course couldn’t get in for three months to see the Rheumatologist. In the meantime, I had to deal with my symptoms continuing to get worse and worse. The pain and swelling spread to my left hand as well. When I woke up in the morning, I couldn’t open my hands. They were so stiff, that they were stuck in a fist position. I would have to run them under water and slowly try to open them while in the shower. It was very painful and it would be hours before they were fully functional. In addition, my feet, ankles and knees were swollen and painful as well. It would hurt to walk up and down stairs. I was relieved when it was finally time for my appt. At the same time I was scared because I had no idea what was wrong with me. Within two visits he told me he thought I probably had RA and started treating me for it. There isn’t a specific blood test that confirms the diagnosis. It is diagnosed by a combination of tests and symptoms. I was in a little bit in denial at first hoping that he was wrong and that it would just go away. But, RA is a chronic disease and I will have to deal with it for the rest of my life.
I have found that most people don’t know what Rheumatoid Arthritis is. Honestly, when I was first diagnosed, I had no idea either. I think there needs to be more education about this kind of arthritis. I started researching RA and read a lot of scary data...such as RA is among the most debilitating forms of arthritis causing joints to ache and throb and eventually become deformed. Some researchers believe that RA can increase your risk of heart disease. I also read that about 40% of people have some degree of disability 10 years after diagnosis. Although RA is not fatal, complications from the disease shortens life span in some individuals. Overall, the rate of premature death is higher in people with RA than the general population.
At only 23 years old, these are very scary things to be reading. I wondered if I would end up being in a wheelchair by the time I was 30. Luckily my doctor treated me aggressively and slowed down the progression of my RA. The combination of pills I was on decreased the pain and inflammation, but I still had severe fatigue and my doctor and I still thought there was more we could do. In the fall of 2004, my doctor added a new medication called a biologic. I was scared by this because it was a shot that I would have to inject myself, but it was only once every other week, so I thought it was worth a try. By the spring of 2005, the combination of my 4 prescriptions helped me to function as normal as possible with minimal daily pain & stiffness. Since then, I have had to go off my meds to get pregnant and was lucky enough to go into remission during part of my pregnancy. After giving birth to my wonderful son, Grant, my doctor and I have been working hard to find that right combination of meds again.
The newer biologic drugs exist because of research being funded by the Arthritis Foundation; research advances funded by galas, runs, walks, and benefits like this one. The Arthritis Foundation has helped me connect with others that have RA and helped me cope with this disease. Currently, there is no known cure for RA, but the treatments are getting better and better and if we continue to raise money to help find a cure, I believe that it is possible.
Won’t you sponsor me in my effort to raise funds to fight one of the nation’s most common causes of disability – ARTHRITIS? Arthritis affects more than 46 million Americans, including 300,000 children, costing the U.S economy over $128 billion annually. The Arthritis Foundation needs our help.
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