Kids can get arthritis. Actually 300,000+ kids live with the effects of arthritis every day. This is something I learned this spring when my daughter Ellie was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA). She is just two years old. When she was first diagnosed she had it her left elbow, both knees and both ankles. When she would wake up in the morning she would be unable to walk for 30 to 45 minutes until he joints loosened up.
After a month or two of not knowing what they heck was going on we finally had them refer us to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.. which is the best damn hospital in the world, and luckily only 90 or so miles away from Waverly. Well, the doctor figured out she had arthritis in, like, 15 minutes… something we had been trying to find out for 6 weeks.
Now that we knew, we started Ellie on a drug called naproxen, she takes that twice a day and as of our last visit to Mayo, she has 100% movement in all her joints except for her left arm, which is awesome news! There is no cure for JRA, and periods of flare-ups can occur where the joints will swell back up again. This happens a lot for some kids and not so much for others. This is something she will have to live with for quite possibly a very long time.
The reason I tell you this, is because I am going to participate in my first fundraiser event for the Arthritis Foundation. It is the Jingle Bell Walk/Run this December 3rd. Held in cities across the country, the Jingle Bell Run/Walk is a fun way for individuals, families and teams to get together for a great cause — the fight against arthritis. I just signed up for it today. The only one in Iowa is in Mason City. I do not have much info about it yet, the main website said it is a 5K walk/run, but when I signed up it had a 10K run as a choice as well. Being an idiot I signed up for the 10K..HAHA.
By this time all of you are thinking, “Man.. I wish there was a place I could donate some $$$ sign up to run in Iowa in December in order to help find a cure for Arthritis.”
Well, today is your lucky day, my friends. By simply clicking here you will be magicly transportered to my donation site for our team.. Feel free to donate anywhere from $0 to $1,000,000. 
To those who donate I will give you a picture of me before and after I run. (After the doctors revive me.)
For you folks that live nearby and you want to do some running or walking, let me know and you can join our team. For those scattered around the country and would like to particiate, you can find a local Arthritis chapter and joing a team looking for members. Click here to get to the main Jingle Bell run page.
To those who made it to this paragraph, thanks for taking the time to listen!
8 users commented in " Kids Get Arthritis Too "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI used to take naproxen for my shoulder - since the cartilage in my shoulder wore away from all my pitching.. and it hurt! = )
Glad its working and things are getting better. Good luck on your run buddy!! Gym-24 and you make a great team.
Are you sure Ellie is yours??? I think she’s too damn cute to be yours!
Ditto Wounds… Ditto..
Wow, I wish I could go run too, but its a little far away. Dont worry, I donated a little something. Shes beautiful, BTW
I almost started taking naproxen for my knees, but then I decided against it because I don’t put drugs of any kind into my body. Even advil. It’s hard for me to even use that kind of drug. (This is because I grew up with parents who believe inmeditation and they were vegans)
I’m glad you daughter is doing better and she’s so cute!
I’ll donate when I get paid.
Michael and I will donate for sure, yo…. i checked to see if there was a walk in chicago, but there isn’t (this fall, anyway….there are some in the spring that we’ll look into!)
Big SMOOCHES to Ellie from Auntie Em and Uncle Mike.
Ellie is a cutie for sure. I’m with Wounds - is she really yours? I’d demand a paternity test.
I’ll give you some $ also.
[...] Last December we participated in the Jingle Bell Walk/Run in Mason City, IA. It was a fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation. You can ready my posts about it here and here. [...]
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