Sadukie on World Arthritis Day
Sarah "Sadukie" Dutkiewicz
Ignited by Code, Fueled by Teaching: Polyglot Programmer, Curriculum Creator, & Technology Trainer
October 12th is known as World Arthritis Day. I'm here to talk about it because I know that representation matters. As a young kid, I thought arthritis was an old person's disease. I saw my grandma's arthritis. As I got older, I saw my husband's grandma's arthritis. I only saw it in old people, so that's what I knew. However, it's not just an old person's disease - anyone can get it. Yes, even kids can get arthritis - known as juvenile arthritis.
I was diagnosed with arthritis a couple years ago. I was diagnosed with severe psoriasis, and the arthritis component showed up a month later. Thankfully, my dermatologist knew who to refer me to, and I had an arthritis diagnosis within 6 months of my psoriasis diagnosis. I have psoriatic arthritis and osteoarthritis. As I'm writing this post, I am going through a flare, as my medication wore off. This means that I am in a lot of pain - especially in my hands, wrists, knees, and ankles. Thankfully, I can manage my pain enough to keep working. Before the end of this week, the flare will end, as I'll have my new meds in hopes of maybe getting the arthritis wrangled.
As I type a lot, I have found that compression gloves with open finger tips have been a blessing during these flares. I keep a pair in my laptop bag when I travel, just in case a flare shows up.
I try not to let my arthritis slow me down much, as I still have a lot of life to live. I have conferences to organize, events to speak at, information to share with the tech community, and - most importantly - a family to keep up with. However, if you do see me slowing down, know that I'm human and that this disease hurts a lot. So sometimes, I do have to rest and be kind to my body as it fights through this.
This World Arthritis Day, these are some people and resources I want you to know about: