runlindsayrun

Moving (Slowly) Beyond

I spent Friday night and all day Saturday at The Arthritis Society's annual Moving Beyond conference here in Winnipeg. It's the third year I've been involved in planning the event, and I always leave exhausted - but feeling that my time and energy were very well-spent.

On Friday night, we heard a presentation by 'Dr. El' - who heads up rheumatology research in the province. It's pretty incredible what they can do, giving arthritis to mice and then isolating their genes to test the effects of the disease. Hearing him speak is so encouraging, just knowing that there's a really smart and dedicated team of people who spend all day, every day just trying to figure out how to make me better. And it's especially cool to hear about the research they're doing, because all the money we raise through Joints in Motion is directly funding their work.

Nine different speakers presented on Saturday, and most of them were excellent. It's kind of crazy to me that I can know so much about my disease and still walk away from every event like this having learned something.

A few highlights:
- A rheumatologist who spoke was the first person ever who could articulate WHY it was important for people with fibromyalgia to exercise. I know that I'm supposed to, but understanding exactly why kind of revolutionized my thinking.
- Having dinner with one of the exhibitors, who was there (officially) to work and promote their products but was really there (unofficially) because she's had arthritis since she was 12 and wanted to learn more.
- Spending the day with a friend who was getting first-hand information on living well with arthritis for the first time in her life.
- Getting to talk with Cathy, a pharmacist who was speaking at the event. Cathy has also run both of the Joints in Motion marathons that I've participated in (plus two others), raising tens of thousands of dollars. She's running the NYC Marathon for Joints in Motion at the beginning of November. Go Cathy Go!
- A psychologist managed to explain the emotional and interpersonal aspects of chronic disease so articulately that I felt like she'd climbed inside my brain. It made me feel so NORMAL (no jokes, Kari-Ann).
- Being able to experience a friend's mom 'coming out of the closet' by attending her first-ever Arthritis Society event. I don't underestimate how hard it is to show up and - in doing so - say to the world 'I'm one of these sick people, and I need help.' Her bravery was so beautiful.
- Imagining a fire breaking out, and then watching people limp and shuffle frantically towards the exits :)

L

posted by Lindsay @ 6:48 PM