Guest Blogger Cheryl Crow faces her Rheumatoid Arthritis with a swing in her step. Check out this fantastic video blog on her journey dancing with rheumatoid arthritis.
My name is Cheryl Crow and I am a 30 year-old Masters in Occupational Therapy student and swing dance instructor living in the San Francisco Bay Area. The above video details my experience going from captaining my college soccer team to not being able to open a jar of peanut butter, and how the diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis led me to a lower impact form of exercise: swing dancing. In addition to what is above, I would like to share that the biggest challenge with having an autoimmune disease for me is not the pain, but rather the side effects of the immunosuppressant medication. I require the medicines in order to life the joyful life I want to live, however they leave me more susceptible to infections and general illness than the average person.
I am grateful to the AARDA and any other organization dedicated to advancing research for autoimmune diseases, and I hope that in my lifetime there will be better solutions for the many others who do not respond well to the current medications.
