May is National Arthritis Month!
When most people hear the word Arthritis they picture their grandma, their elderly neighbor or an older coworker.
They don't picture a two-year old who is having problems walking despite learning a year earlier just like every other toddler.
They don't picture a little girl that can't sit "Indian style" like the rest of her classmates.
They don't picture a kid that uses training wheels for much too long because she is afraid of falling off. And doesn't learn to ride a real bike until seeing her younger brother has mastered it.
People don't associate arthritis with a kid that spends time after school in physical therapy instead of playing sports.
They don't picture a young adult that needs a hip replacement while still in college and a second one on the other hip a few years after graduation.
No one pictures a person arthritis as someone who is 2 or 10 or in their 20s but, I am Meg and I am the face of arthritis.
Who do you know with arthritis?
Meg, I love your post it is perfect! You are right so many people automatically think "Arthritis" is an old people's disease. There are approximately 250,000 kids under the age of 18 affected by some form of Autoimmune Arthritis pact of Juvenile Arthritis according to the Arthritis Foundation.
ReplyDeleteThank you for being brave enough to share your story, and for stopping by my site. I hope you are getting the proper treatment and have a great doctor.
Contact me anytime! There are blogs of people about your age listed on my resource page and there is a Facebook page for young people with Autoimmune Arthritis, I will find it for you.
Lorna
Life with RA is a Pain
Thanks Lorna! The National JA Conference is actually coming up soon in California! It was in STL last year and it was amazing (and kind of sad) to see all the kids affected. The amazing part was seeing how little noticeable joint damage they had because of the amazing advancement in drugs. Things have come a long way since I was diagnosed 26 years ago!
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