This holiday season, don’t donate to arthritis. Donate to the real issues people living with arthritis deal with every day. Donate to fight flare-ups, end exhaustion, and put a stop to someone’s pain.
Arthritis is more than just joint pain and it’s not just for seniors. It affects people of all ages, genders, and races. There are over 100 different types and related conditions affecting 6 million Canadians. That’s 1 in 5. And the way it affects one person can be completely different from someone else.
Cristy was diagnosed with arthritis five years ago, but she knew long before that something was wrong. She experienced pain in her hip, left shoulder and neck, but that was nothing compared to the excruciating pain in her knees.
For someone who had previously been strong, active and loved to dance and garden, the diagnosis was devastating. Cristy was forced to move and walk gingerly to avoid grinding the bones of her knees. As the disease progressed, she had to stop working. Stairs became more and more difficult, and carrying heavy loads was out of the question.
“The most difficult thing is knowing that it is not going to get better,” Cristy says. “In fact, it will continue to deteriorate with time, becoming debilitating. I am very afraid of that.”
Despite her fear, Cristy is hopeful that research funding will lead to better medications to manage arthritis. When asked what she thinks arthritis will stop her from doing, she responded with “arthritis won’t stop me. Period”. You can help make this possible.