IFAA and the Walk for fundraising sponored by AARDA! To Help get a handle on Autoimmune Arthritic Illnesses!

I am not near any of the "walks". But, I wanted to show my support so I joined "virtually" the IFAA Team!

There are dozens of reasons why WE need as much support as possible when it comes to Autoimmune Arthritic Illnesses!

We need more research, more Rheumatologists, and Pediatric Rheumatologists also. We need better medications, hopefully someday with less side effects, and of course we desperately need to find a CURE! and/or STOP these horrid life altering, life stealing illnesses, diseases and syndromes well before they take over!

So, I invite you to walk, or walk virtually. Or give a donation, and you can "give" what you feel you can. Any amount is one more step for hope, help, research, medications, reasons why our immune systems go "haywire" and A cure.

I did not realize until this morning that the actress "Kelly Martin" whom I just happen to LOVE, is the National Autoimmune Walk Ambassador this year! Her sister who suffered symptoms for a long while and then was diagnosed with Lupus, that later took her at a young age gave Kelly a longing to try and stop these horrid illnesses.

I am an avid fan of Kelly's. In fact I record all of her movies on the "Hallmark Channels" and sometimes watch them more than once. I think she is a tremendous actress and an amazing woman.

Here is a link to the page where she has an open letter about her personal situation due to her sister's illness and why she supports AARDA and this walk:

http://www.autoimmunewalk.org/aawalk/ambassador.asp


Here is also a link to the IFAA walk Team Page!

IFAA Buttahflies

Here is my "personal page for the walk



http://www.autoimmunewalk.org/aawalk/participantpage.asp?fundid=1150&uid=5837&role=1

Early Symptoms of Autoimmune Arthritis Investigation - brought to you by the International Autoimmune Arthritis Foundation!

International Foundation for Autoimmune Arthritis

It took 18 months and over 3500 hours. It required online educational courses in research methods and data analysis in addition to private mentoring from a lead research consultant. It needed cooperation from our friends at the Spondylitis Association of America, Lupus UK, Sjögren's Syndrome Foundation, and International Still's Disease Foundation to serve as Nonprofit Organizational Experts on symptom reporting. It required patients with RA, PsA, SLE, Sjogren's, Ankylosing Spondylitis, and Adult Onset Still's Disease to see if they qualified to participate and, if so, donate 60 minutes of their time to report their disease progression from onset through 24 months.
It required patience, willingness to learn and grow, and the passion to make change in the delays in detection, referrals, diagnosis, and treatment. But we did it.


The 150 page Early Symptoms of Autoimmune Arthritis investigation into the true early symptoms of 6 diseases*, as reported by the patient and compared to current symptom lists published by the ACR, NIH, National Library of Medicine, and Mayo Clinic, will be available for you to download on July 1st from the IFAA website. The results from this investigation will be used to create new, updated Early Symptom Patient Models per disease and by group.


A special thank you to Janssen for making this possible.
*AOSD FULL analysis will not be included in this publication (although much of it will) as the original recruitment was too low for 95% scientific accuracy. The number has now been reached and AOSD will be added to the analysis by the end of 2015.

 Early Symptoms of Autoimmune Arthritis Investigation

Below is my post to the IFAA!

I know that this took an astronomical amount of work from the IFAA and all, plus many more including Janssen that helped to make this all possible. In the hopes that this will be quite an eye-opener for everyone that is involved with Autoimmune Arthritic Illnesses, along with all of the other AAI's that can go along with the "Arthritic" ones. I am proud to say that I've been a part of this incredible bunch of ladies and men. It took many, many long days and nights, to get all of this in order and put into the publication that it is coming in. My hopes are that this will bring even more awareness, more education, more "early diagnosis", more Advanced and Early, plus "aggressive" medications, and treatments; because up until now, the many, many of us that have been through the "fires" of one doctor after the other, one diagnosis after the other, one medication after the other... which may go on FOR YEARS... only to find out something else is causing the problems, or you may have NOT been as "ill" had you gotten proper care from the beginning... as a woman, I know the spill, about, oh, it is your hormones, or you are too "young" to have joint problems, or you are just stressed out... and this from Physicians.... that are supposed to be "specialists"... THEY need EDUCATION also in many ways... so I say again CONGRATULATIONS IFAA!!!! What an incredible feat you pulled off

Rhia Steele

"World Autoimmune Arthritis Week" Race Around the Globe! Are your Ready! by the International Foundation for Autoimmune Arthritis

WOW! May 2015 is going to be a very busy month for all advocates!

We have several "awareness" things going on for May and one of them is the "Race Around the Globe" for a week of spreading awareness about Autoimmune Arthritis!


The International Foundation for Autoimmune Arthritis (IFAA) is putting this week on. It begins on Ma15th, and around the Globe many entities will be participating in it.

Here is a link to the official "PR" release:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/WAAD/prweb12684750.htm

For More Information about This Amazing Race Around the Globe - Host by IFAA, where you can also sign up to participate see:

http://www.worldautoimmunearthritisday.org/home.html

JRA (Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis) Yes Children Can Suffer from this Affliction also...

JRA (Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis) and/or Still's Disease as a chronic autoimmune arthritic illness that effects children. I realize many of us have to wonder "how" and "why" a small child could have this and if they do, how do they discover it, how to the children deal with it, do they give them medications like they do adults, and probably if you truly sat to think and talk about it, you would find all kinds of questions floating around in your mind.

I had heard of JRA for years. I also knew it was certainly an autoimmune arthritic disease, that struck hundred of thousands of kids annually all over the world. Yet,it never occurred to me that they may possibly need a "different" type of highly specialized Rheumatologist (Pediactric Rheumatologist) who had more schooling and expertise in dealing with the children's type of illness. Often these children are "born" with it. From day one, even though the symptoms and signs may not manifest themselves for a awhile, or even if they do have symptoms many family care doctors, and pediactric doctors may not think about a child coming in with a myriad of "symptoms" over the course of several years, until one day a blood test, or something that the physician witnesses does the 2 plus 2 finally equal 4!
I had the fortunate experience of being in a group at the Arthritis Summit in DC this past March, with a gentleman, whose daughter was diagnosed with JRA when she was 9 months old! She celebrated 10 years of JRA this past month or so. Between all of the information he could tell us, his own experiences, his daughter's, and all that he has himself learned in order to help his own daughter along with the thousands of other kids, there was just so much he told me that I even with my research didn't know.
For one, we have "VERY FEW" Pediatric Rheumatoid Arthritis Specialists in the entire Nation! just in Texas alone, we have about 3 to handle ALL of these children's illnesses. Parents drive hundreds of miles, or even have to cross over go to a "pediatric Rheumatologist" for their child to get proper care. As huge as the state of TX is, there is only about 30 or less of these specialists. They are mainly around the Houston, Austin, San Antonio areas, the larger cities. So, kids that are off in West TX, or deep South TX, or in East TX, are the ones that parents must spend sometimes a few days getting them to their doctors for medications, blood work, testing and so forth. It is insanity.

Here is an event, from the Arthritis Foundation, especially for these kids. They have a camp they go to annually, that gives them a chance to "feel like normal" kids, and they can even bring "siblings" that can feel like they are a part of the process rather than feel like they are almost "left out" because a sibling seems to get more attention due to the JRA. It gives siblings a chance to "bond" and all feel equal and helpful. These are just incredibly amazing kids and I look forward to getting to know them better, and get a deeper understanding about their illness. Here is the URL about the upcoming JRA Camp.... take a moment if you will to read about this and how incredible these kids are.... to go through what they do... and still have such a positive and lively attitude... never feeling "sorry" for themselves, but having an understanding of how their lives will just be as they are because they have been this way since they were very little for some of them... they know not "normal" like us adults that sometimes don't get RA diagnosed until our 40's or older... if they have JRA from the time they are 9 months old... then that is "normal" for them....

By the way this is Mia! I had to add her in, because I know from all that her Dad says this is one special little girl! She is one of the 30,000 kids just in TX alone that need help from more specialists, research, medications, & finding out how to STOP this illnesses before it ever strikes them...

http://endarthritis.org/

Please Come and Meet Our Next Guest Blogger - Kirsten Walters as she talks about her Blog "Not Standing Still's Disease"

Here is the link for the FB page for IFAA!