2019 Walk to Cure Arthritis

(I know I haven’t written here in awhile, but I hope to get back to weekly posts now that the semester is over.)

I hadn’t been planning to attend the Arthritis Foundation’s Walk to Cure Arthritis in Chicago, because it was the Sunday before final exams for me. I recently became a moderator of the Arthritis Foundation’s Live Yes Online Community, though, and they asked me to attend to talk about it. I’m so glad I did!

How the walks work

The Arthritis Foundation hosts the Walk to Cure Arthritis in many cities across the country, mostly in late spring and early summer. Chicago’s was Sunday, May 5th this year, in Montrose Harbor.

These walks are opportunities for community, fundraising, and learning. It feels wonderful to be surrounded by people who understand what you’re going through—people who can relate to things from weekly injections and morning stiffness to knee surgery and canes.

For those worried about being able to complete the walk, there were two options: a 5k and a shorter 1-mile track. Some people made the walk with walkers, strollers, or canes. Plus, the walk itself isn’t obligatory, even though it is the main event. Whether you plan to walk or not, it’s a great place to find others with arthritis and great resources for everyday life!

It’s an event for all kinds of arthritis, although there’s definitely more attention paid to certain types. At the Chicago walk, leis were offered with different colors for different kinds of arthritis. Colors were matched up to osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile arthritis, and a few more, as well as yellow leis for other rheumatic diseases. Unfortunately for me, there wasn’t a spondylitis color, so I took the juvenile arthritis one.

That being said, I was excited to see representation of spondylitis at the walk overall. The walk honored two people with arthritis, an adult honoree and a youth honoree. The youth honoree had ankylosing spondylitis, and the Faces of Arthritis profiles featured at the walk included people with kinds of spondylitis, too. I recently learned that spondylitis is actually estimated to be more common than rheumatoid arthritis in the United States, yet it still remains unknown to most people.

The fundraising aspect of the walk is important, too, of course. In addition to fundraising before the event, many raffle prizes were offered during the event, including bikes, Cubs tickets, and gift cards for restaurants. People could form teams for fundraising for the walk, and bigger teams even had their own tent areas at the event. Groups of families and friends coordinated t-shirts and other clothing to show support for loved ones with arthritis, and kids especially had a lot of fun with the toys and games available.

I didn’t participate in pre-event fundraising because I hadn’t been planning to attend, but those who raised a certain amount got awesome Walk to Cure Arthritis t-shirts. There were also some tasty snacks and fun giveaways available from the Arthritis Foundation and other sponsors.

In-person resources

What I think is greatest about something like a walk is the opportunity to connect with resources. The Arthritis Foundation has tons of resources for people, including information on arthritis, advocacy, and support. They have toolkits for managing various aspects of arthritis, and they have communities that are still actively being built.

Even though I’m active in the online community, I’ve been hesitant to attend an in-person meeting, because I was unsure what it would be like or if it would even be useful for me. Being able to meet the people who run these meetings was very helpful, and I was able to hear all of the events and new groups they have planned. The great thing about these groups is that if you’re passionate about something that doesn’t exist in your area, you can start it yourself!

There were also resources there where you could learn about juvenile arthritis camps, the online community, advocacy programs, and other programs offered by the Arthritis Foundation.

Other opportunities to connect

If these opportunities and resource don’t seem right for you, I encourage you to investigate other organizations that might work with your specific kind of arthritis. For example, for me, there’s also the Spondylitis Association of America. While I’m not extremely involved with their communities, I visit and reference their site frequently because of the great information it has about spondylitis. They also have support groups and an online community, like the Arthritis Foundation.

I’ve been torn between the Spondylitis Association of America for its devotion to spondylitis and the Arthritis Foundation for its devotion to juvenile arthritis. I connect most with people who developed arthritis at a young age, yet I also long to find others with spondylitis. Because young adults with spondylitis is such a specific group, I don’t think I’d have much luck finding or making a group specifically for that, with either organization. But who knows?

I can’t speak to what any other organizations can offer, but it might be worth investigating. Finding other people going through the same issues can make it a little easier, at least. I wish you luck!

-Bri