This is a guest post which has been contributed by one of our readers, @redmamastyle
This December, across the United States, people will be donning their Santa Claus hats and tying jingle bells to their shoe laces to hit the road in the Arthritis Foundation’s Jingle Bell 5K to raise awareness and much-needed funds for arthritis.
The term ‘arthritis’ covers over 150 internationally recognised musculoskeletal diseases, including Rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and Juvenile Rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). There are hundreds of millions of men, women and children across the globe that suffer from this debilitating disease, and the World Health Organisation estimates that these diseases will become the 4th leading cause of disability by 2015.
This disease is close to my heart because I was diagnosed with (JRA) at age 17. I found the determination to get what I want in life and force my arthritis to take a back seat to my goals. But that’s not why I’m walking. I have an incredible Rheumatologist that I have been seeing for 20 years and we’ve worked together as partners to put my RA in its place. But that isn’t why I’m doing this 5K, either. I work hard every day to be ‘normal’ and now I feel like I’m in control. But that’s not why I continue to fight.
I fight for the 7-year old girl who has to stop playing dolls and be carried up to her room because she’s just in too much pain. I fight for the little boy who has to sit in the corner at gym class and watch his friends play because there is no way his deteriorating joints will let him run with his friends. I fight because KIDS GET ARTHRITIS TOO. They don’t understand why, and neither do I.
The Arthritis Foundation’s Jingle Bell 5K is great way to get involved! To donate to me or my team, Zuzu’s Petals, please visit http://yorkjbr.kintera.org/bridgetv. To see what events are being held in the UK, please visit http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org. Arthritis hurts, and you can help!
