Friday, December 20, 2013

The Sleep Problem

Although not technically a symptom of the disease, a lot of people with RA have trouble with sleep. Some people have trouble falling asleep. Some people have trouble staying asleep. Some people have trouble with both.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

December Articles On Answers.com

You can find a complete list of all the articles I have published on Answers.com by clicking here. Below is a list of the new articles I published in the month of December.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Traveling With Refrigerated Medications

Are you traveling with refrigerated meds in tow this holiday season?  



Tuesday, December 10, 2013

We Are Not Alone

Did you know that Lucille Ball & Pierre-Auguste Renoir had RA?

Read more at RheumatoidArthritis.net.

Team Z Raises More Than $25,000!

Team Z raised $1,305 for the 2013 Jingle Bell Walk this year. That means that since Team Z started fundraising three years ago, we have raised more than $25,000 for the Arthritis Foundation!! I'm very proud and I hope that our funds can make a difference!! Thank you so much to all of our friends and family members who have contributed over the years!!

2013 Denver Jingle Bell Walk

Despite the nearly sub-zero temperatures (I believe it was 13 degrees?) our family and friends participated in the 2013 Denver Jingle Bell Walk on Sunday. (Honestly, I think it was warmer than last year because last year it was windy.) It was our biggest team yet with 22 adults, one baby, and one dog.

As the honoree this year, I gave a short speech at the start of the race. I briefly told my story and said it was a privilege to represent all the young people out there who are trying to start their careers, start their families, and start their lives while living with arthritis. And even though I didn't grow up with arthritis I also hope that I can serve as a role model for kids with arthritis. 

Sadly, since my knees have been giving me a lot of trouble, I wasn't actually able to walk myself this year. (Unfortunately the knee injections did not seem to solve the problem, although it seems to have helped at least a little bit.) Not being able to participate really got me thinking again about whether "A Walk" is really the best fundraising idea for arthritis. Yes, as the honoree theoretically everyone was walking in my honor. But how many of them knew I couldn't do the walk myself? How many of them really understood the impact that RA has on my life? Aside from raising some money, is the Jingle Bell Walk really getting the message out and raising awareness about arthritis? Honestly I'm not sure it is.

As the honoree I attended several pre-walk events this year. At one of the events I met some committee members (yes, the volunteers who organize the Jingle Bell Walk) who didn't seem to know that there were different types of arthritis! I had to explain the difference between RA and OA to them. One of them even joked to me that at least I didn't have to walk like Quasimodo, and I had to explain to him that arthritis can, in fact, be crippling and disabling. Learning that the people who were organizing the event were so uninformed themselves (and thought cripple jokes were funny) did not leave me with much hope that the event was actually getting the message out. I did speak to the Arthritis Foundation staff about the incident and they assured me that they would re-double their education efforts, but it was still disheartening. 

While walking and gentle exercise can be very beneficial for people with arthritis, maybe having "A Walk" as our main fundraiser does not send out the right message to the general public. Because many people with arthritis can't walk, or struggle to walk, or find walking painful - at least some of the time. The more I think about it, the more I think Dan is probably right:
You would never see the Breast Cancer people hold a wet-t-shirt contest, and you would never see the Cystic Fibrosis people hold a competition to see who could hold their breath the longest. Also, you would never see the alcoholic crowd hosting a wine tasting, and you certainly would never see the arthritis crowd hosting a walk – oh wait! Do you see how crazy it sounds when in appropriate company?
The problem is, although I have been thinking about it a lot lately, I haven't come up with any better ideas for alternatives. So I am reluctant to say that we should stop walking for arthritis - because it does raise research dollars. But. But I wish there was something we could do to make sure the message about the impact of arthritis actually gets to the people who are participating.

I'm going to keep thinking about it. 

AmazonSmile

Want to contribute to arthritis research while you do your holiday shopping? AmazonSmile will give a percentage of your purchases to the Arthritis Foundation!! 

All you have to do is go through this link to do your shopping: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/58-1341679. It works just like regular Amazon only you should see a small "Supporting: Arthritis Foundation" in the top left corner of your screen.  

Please share this info with your friends!