Introduction & Early Stages

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June 2006

Monday, June 05, 2006

I’m always amazed at who, when and where arthritis surfaces. This weekend, for example, I was at a street fair, talking to a bunch of guys eating their corn dogs. Older men, probably in their 60’s, they looked, talked and acted like the “Men’s Club of Manhattan”; probably friends for a hundred years, ties to all things political, economic and social, but more importantly, half a dozen really nice guys. The type of group that had we been somewhere else in the country, might have known each other from a war or military service. But, this being New York City, I wasn’t going to ask how they knew each other. So I went with the flow, pulled up a chair and visited with them for a little while.

One way or another we got to talking about knees, and they quickly volunteered their medical conditions. Five of the six men had arthritis. And if you count me, that made six of seven. Suddenly, this ‘kid’ walking down the street who stopped to talk to the peanut gallery had something in common with the rest of the group….and I was just getting started.

Turns out they call themselves the “Bad Knee Club” and they come together to eat lunch, commiserate about their wives and pensions, and most importantly, trade stories about exercising, doctors and surgeries for their knees. They give each other encouragement and fill each other in with war stories and gossip about their treatments. Sometimes it’s a bad side effect from a medicine, other times it’s a knee replacement surgery story.

Now I don’t claim to know about a lot of things in this world, but if there’s one thing I do know, it’s arthritis. And if there’s one place I’m comfortable being, it’s on a street corner with six strangers, five of whom have arthritis. And to my delight, they were all men (usually it’s the other way around; arthritis is much more prevalent among women, and women generally outlive men)(insert bad sexist joke here). So this was a nice change from the ordinary.

I really enjoyed talking to Frank, Al, Mike, Joe, Frank Jr. (there’s probably a story there) and John. They seemed happy about life. They were out on a Saturday, spending time together, in mostly good shape, and even though they (pretty much) all had really bad knees, they smiled and didn’t let that bother them. And they made me an honorary member of their group. Card carrying and all. I even know when and where they meet for lunch every week!

Which is why in this world…it’s not so bad to have arthritis. It’s a lifetime membership in a club that’s growing every day. Luckily for all of us, our members are great people.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Today I'm off to EULAR - the European League Against Rheumatism - for a conference. I'm looking forward to saying hi to all of the doctors from around the world that we've worked with over the years. Men and women from every part of this planet - Turkey to Germany, Los Angeles to India - who all have one thing in common: the devotion to helping people like us with arthritis.

So really I'll go anywhere they go - it's the least I can do.

But in typical Seth style I haven't begun packing, so more to come.

Friday, June 30, 2006

It’s a small arthritis world. It doesn’t matter what time zone you’re in, what language you speak, which way you prepare your food, what weather you face or any other dumb analogy – in this world there are certain common denominators. And arthritis is definitely one of them. Last week I had a chance to travel abroad to Amsterdam, Netherlands, for the European League Against Rheumatism – an annual scientific conference comprised of physicians and other experts (as well as patients) from all around the world. Obviously European programs and education were stressed, but I had a chance to meet doctors from every continent – literally.

We all had a chance to come together to share information about scientific breakthroughs and treatments for arthritis, ways we cope with our disease(s), or customs that different cultures practice. But probably most importantly, it has always been so obvious just how many different faces arthritis has. It really is a small arthritis world.

It was also nice to see some old friends who live far away. I’m looking forward to returning to Europe where we will help bring all of our messages and our unique way of delivering them to the many people who seek them.