I just wanted to drop a quick note in here that Bug completed her second Arthritis Walk a week ago! She walked almost 3 miles, with a couple of breaks, and had a wonderful time. The great news was that this year our team was 15 members, compared to 5 last year. Considering 13 of us live 1.5 hours away or more, that was AWESOME! I was so happy to have so many people take the time out of their busy lives and come support Bug. She had one of her good friends from school come, and even though we offered to drive him his whole family came along too. And, her therapist came and joined us with one of her friends and her dog. It was absolutely wonderful.

To top it off, we brought in about $500.00 more this year than last year. Our team raised $1350 - possibly more if a couple of people's company matching programs come through for us. Next year we want to bring in $2000.00, and hopefully have at least 10 more people join us.

If you're wondering why we do the arthritis walk, it's because Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome falls in the arthritis family. :) The walk allows Bug to feel like she is actively doing something about her condition, and to top it off the walk falls in May, which is National Ehlers-Danlos Awareness Month. So we're kind of killing two birds with one stone.

So - if you don't know what you can do to raise awareness for EDS, try participating in your local arthritis walk. Wear a shirt that has an EDS message, or form a team supporting EDS. It's a great way to empower yourself and raise awareness at the same time.

http://lmt.arthritis.org/

Tonight Bug was sitting playing a video game when she suddenly said "ouch - my thumb just popped out". To my amazement, she then tried to bite the joint. When asked why, she informed me that "this is what I usually do when this happens." Mind you - this is all new news to me!

Apparently the gnawing on her thumb wasn't working as she came and sat on my lap telling me how much it was hurting/bothering her. I tried to gently manipulate it, but gosh darn-it, I have no idea how to relocate a thumb! Where is the instruction manual for that? LOL Anyway, she took her thumb back, rubbed it a little, put it back in her mouth and said "got it!" So I guess she knows better than I how to handle the situation. It's a weird way of doing it, but if it works, I guess that's ok, right?

I was surprised by two things. First of all that this has been happening for awhile and that I had no idea! Secondly, that she knew how to deal with it and thought it wasn't a big deal. Painful, yes, but something to freak out about? No. To her, it's annoying, but "normal".