Living with arthritis can lead to major stress. Which can lead to more pain! It’s a vicious cycle that can leave you mentally and physically exhausted. Research suggests that mindfulness practices can help people living with chronic pain. But the idea of even practicing mindfulness and meditation to break that pain chain can be scary.

Continue readingLive Yes! With Arthritis Podcast-Episode 2-Mindfulness→

Lauren McAllister, Kristen’s big sister, found her role and urges other JA siblings to do the same.

“We’re lucky to be sisters, but we choose to be best friends,” says Lauren McAllister of her relationship with her sister,Kristen McAllister.

Kristen began a long and painful journey with juvenile idiopathic arthritis 15 years ago, when she was 10 years old and Lauren was 12. It hasn’t been an easy road.

劳伦说:“看着你爱的人在一场没有治愈方法的战斗中挣扎，这是一种毁灭性的打击。”他说:“那些应该有效的药物并不总是有效的。本来应该“治好你”的医生却不知道该怎么做。这是一种无助的感觉。不仅我帮不上她，那些应该是“治疗者”的医生也帮不了她。’”

Previously an active child, Kristen had to give up dancing, cheerleading and gymnastics — activities that she had grown up participating in with Lauren.

“Growing up, she would follow in my footsteps and do the same activities I did,” says Lauren. “We started dance, then gymnastics, which we got to do together. It was neat to have those experiences together.”

But arthritis changed their lives. Kristen could no longer follow in Lauren’s footsteps.

“I didn’t know how to walk her through it. I didn’t know what the right words were, and I couldn’t take the pain away,” Lauren says.

Kristen had to choose her own path in this challenging landscape, with Lauren by her side.

“她是不可阻挡的，”劳伦说。“她已经下定决心，她不会让这件事阻碍她去做她喜欢和想做的事情。作为一个家庭，我们100%支持她。我们让它工作。她会从轮椅上下来，爬到餐厅楼上，我们会把轮椅搬过来，这样她就能回到轮椅上了。”

Lauren goes on: “Something I really admire about her is that she has every reason under the sun to take herself out of situations, not partake in activities or go certain places because it’s harder or inconvenient. But she won’t allow herself to live that way. We’ve been so fortunate with the support of our friends and extended family. We’ve all just wanted her to experience the life a 25-year-old should experience.”

虽然劳伦和克里斯汀选择成为姐妹，但她们也选择了一种特定的人生观。“我们选择快乐，”劳伦说。

“It’s harder to do on some days than others, and it may be weeks or months later before you find it. But in every situation, we try to find the joy in it. We’ve been through some pretty dark times. But we’ve chosen joy. If you keep looking for it, you’ll eventually find it.”

Arthritis is a life-altering disease for 54 million Americans like Kristen and Lauren.You can help conquer it on Giving Tuesday. Your generous donation fuels life-changing research and resources right away.

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This fierce Arthritis Warrior of Knoxville, Tennessee, has a fighting spirit.

“There are a lot of things I can’t do,” says Kristen McAllister. “I feel like my story doesn’t necessarily give hope.”Continue readingKristen McAllister: She Is Hope and Determination→

斯蒂芬妮·阿莱特是迈阿密人，她是一位新妈妈，她觉得自己的关节炎并没有白费。相反，她与他人分享自己的经历，希望他们能过上更好的生活。

当斯蒂芬妮在小时候第一次听说自己患有幼年关节炎时，她非常惊讶。直到快到十八九岁的时候，她才知道自己在五岁时被诊断出患有JA，一开始是一只手的手指变形，然后很快扩散到全身。

她很快开始接受治疗以控制病情。“我很幸运，对治疗的反应很好，我的疾病在我青少年时期的大部分时间里都得到了缓解。我的父母认为我的病情会持续一生，所以他们没有理由告诉我他们认为是我过去的疾病。”

但斯蒂芬妮17岁的时候，她的酗酒狂卷土重来。“我妈妈不得不告诉我，‘你小的时候有一点关节炎。’所以，我在这种疾病的症状和痛苦中长大，包括好几年的缓解，但它从来没有一个名字。”

The Challenges of RA and Being a New Mom

Stephanie knows all too well that most people don’t realize how intense and complicated arthritis is. But she’s learned to accept their misperceptions. “It’s OK that they don’t fully understand. I don’t even understand it myself sometimes,” she admits. “The disease is so bad that it’s kind of unbelievable. The only way I can really describe something so complex is to explain that my immune system is attacking my body.”

A big obstacle Stephanie faces today is having trouble sleeping. “That’s the most basic kind of human need that RA gets in the middle of,” she says. “It’s hard to sleep when you can’t get comfortable because you’re in pain. Sometimes my back hurts so bad that I wish somebody would wring out my spine like a washcloth.” Stephanie says it’s hard to turn doorknobs and pick up a heavy pot of boiling water for pasta.

她的室友在假期时特别严厉。“任何人都有压力，即使没有关节炎。我喜欢做饭，通常人们都很理解我不可能什么都做，也不可能为20个人做一顿大餐。”

Something harder for some to understand is that she can’t make it to all the holiday parties. A friend gave her sound advice to feel less overwhelmed: Just disappear quietly into another room when you need a short break. “You don’t have to be in it the whole time. I tried so hard to be all-in, all-perfect, all-visible. But it’s OK to show people your vulnerability. Take 15 minutes by yourself and relax a bit if you need to.”

Taking care of her son, Santiago, who just turned 1, can also be challenging. Carrying him, getting him into and out of his car seat or putting him into his stroller or a shopping cart can trigger pain. She tries to run errands on her husband’s day off so he can help.

No Longer on the Sidelines

Stephanie says having good communication with your health care team is vital. “I’m thankful to have an open, honest relationship with my doctor. Finding a doctor who views our relationship as a partnership has been pivotal. My experience has changed me from someone who sat on the sidelines in my fight against RA, to the girl in the ring, ready to kick RA in the teeth.”

Stephanie makes time to connect with others who also struggle with arthritis, including being a patient advocate and blogger. Before she became a mother, Stephanie led a local Live Yes! Connect Group, bringing together doctors and patients to talk about treatment goals and tools to bridge the gap between doctor visits.

斯蒂芬妮说关节炎基金会的草根倡导努力让她感到欣慰。他说:“关节炎基金会致力于在华盛顿和全国各州争取我们的权利。我没有时间，或者没有完全理解所有的法律。他们支持我，让我有时间陪儿子，这是一个足够大的捐款理由。”

虽然关节炎会让人分心，但斯蒂芬妮还是找到了很多其他事情来占据她的注意力。她的兴趣包括钩针编织、园艺、写作，还有一个很大的爱好:烹饪。“关节炎会阻止我做这些事情，但它不是我想的全部，也不是我生活的全部。”

Stephanie shared these words of wisdom in one of her blogs: “Someone once told me that RA is like a friend who will be by your side for the rest of your life, and how I treat that friend determines how that friend treats me. So, I’ve learned I have to care for it, respect it and—occasionally—entertain it.”