thank you for the article

[Guest guest]

the article below that you emailed to the group was awesome to read......

Thankyou for sharing it.

Trish

www.herbals-unlimited.com

> Hey,> Below is an article about me from the local paper for National Arthritis > Awareness Month.> > Steph in VA> > > Minding the miles> > Tim Hogan - Sports Editor> Culpeper Star Exponent> Sunday, May 22, 2005> > You run a marathon with your legs. When your legs tire, your arms flex a > little harder and find an energy boost. If the arms and legs begin to go, > your abs tighten, taking you to another level.> > When all seems lost, you find muscles you didn't know you had to carry you > through the next mile. After all muscles - those you've met and those you > haven't - have faded, your mind takes over.> > A marathon is a mental challenge, about as difficult as they come. The mind > fills in the gaps that tired muscles and cramps leave. It's a substitute, > something on which you can always rely if you begin to doubt your calf, your > hamstring.> > But what if you doubted your entire body, even before the race started? How > strong would your mind have to be?> It's impossible to quantify such an answer, but we do know this: at least as > strong as DeNicola's.> > DeNicola, 27, was a competitive dancer in Queens, N.Y. before she packed her > clothes, left her big family behind and turned the corner onto an unpaved > path called college.> > The first three years at Mansfield College in Pennsylvania were good ones. > She was active on her small campus and a familiar face to most of those she > passed on her way to class.> > In September of 1999, she was cruising through her workload and preparing > for interviews that would determine where she would complete her student > teaching during the spring semester.> > Majoring in English education, she planned to teach middle and high school > students. She was moving quickly through life, as motivated college students > do, then something slowed her pace.> > "I literally went to bed one day and I was fine," said DeNicola. "Woke up > the next day and lost the use of the left side of my body, which is my > dominant side."> > For the next two months, DeNicola treated countless doctors as if they were > students, challenging them and testing their knowledge of the human body. > Most failed.> > In November, after sitting in more waiting rooms than she cares to remember, > DeNicola was assured she was not crazy and that her symptoms were real.> > Contrary to what other doctors had originally suspected, she did not have a > brain tumor or mononucleosis, and she had not had a stroke.> > DeNicola found out she was the victim of genetic mutations, which had grown > from health problems in the family, and faced the challenge of battling > inflammatory arthritis.> > She regained use of all of her extremities, and after finding a new drug > called Remicade in late spring of 2000, the pain subsided tremendously. She > calls it her "wonder drug."> > Remicade may not be effective forever, and there's always the possibility of > long-term side effects. But before she found the drug, the pain was, not > metaphorically, almost unbearable.> > "I don't know if (Remicade's) going to kill me," she said. "And I don't know > if it's gonna make me worse. I don't care. Right now it helps me, and that's > all I care about. My pain was so bad that I contemplated suicide."> > But with the help of her> "wonder drug," her mind overcame the pain, and after six months of living at > home - she had the credits to graduate from Mansfield in December of 1999 - > DeNicola was ready for the next challenge.> > In June of 2000, on the suggestion of a college friend who taught at > Culpeper County High School, she moved to Culpeper. The following summer, > with her life progressing as normally as could be expected, she had a > full-body bone-density scan, and the results revealed that Remicade had > built back much of her bone density.> > Based on the results, her rheumatologist Dr. Lawson made a joke he > never thought would be taken seriously.> > "Dr. Lawson said, `This is awesome! You're so healthy you could run a > marathon,'" recalls DeNicola. "(I said) `I couldn't even dress myself last > year, I'm not doing that to my body! It's pissed off enough as it is!'"> > But after a little research and a hesitant go-ahead from Dr. Lawson, > DeNicola began her six-month training regimen, preparing her to walk the > 2001 Honolulu Marathon.> > DeNicola raised $4,500 for the Arthritis Foundation and had her trip to > Hawaii paid for in full. But the walking she had to do herself.> "The first couple of hours I was good," she said of the marathon. "I had > learned enough in my training to be alright. About five hours into it, I > thought, `Oh God, I want to be at home' . Between eight and nine (hours), I > really considered just stopping because they had taken away the water tables > and the mile markers, so I had no idea where I was."> > Along with a friend from Charlottesville she had met through the Arthritis > Foundation, DeNicola found another level, a fifth or sixth wind that kept > her going. But quitting wasn't completely out of the question.> > "We finally got to a point where we couldn't go anymore," she said. "The van > guy came around (to pick us up) and was like, `you're 0.2 miles away.' And I > was like, `Hell, we're finishing, even if we have to pull each other over > the finish line.'"> > There was no tape to bust through, no screaming fans, no clock to confirm > the time - between 10 and 11 hours - and no medals to commemorate the > achievement. The guy driving the van was the pair's only witness.> > She had completed a task worth bragging about for the rest of her life, but > that wasn't enough. Eleven months later, DeNicola did it again.> > This time she decided to rough it at the Bermuda Marathon, but, > unfortunately, the training did not go as smoothly the second time around. > DeNicola pinched a nerve in her neck six weeks before the marathon, and when > the pain came rushing back five miles in, she decided she'd call it quits . > at the 13.1 mark.> > Her common sense and medical knowledge told her she couldn't do the full > 26.2 miles, but her determination and stubborn ways told her she couldn't > quit before the halfway point, where she was greeted by fans, a clock and a > medal.> > DeNicola still lives in Culpeper, working as a communications specialist at > Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation. She has not started training again, > but intends to add another marathon to her list of accomplishments. In her > mind, it's not a question of why do that to yourself, it's a question of why > not?> > "There's no telling when the medication is going to stop working," DeNicola > said. "If I'm in a wheelchair in ten years, I want to know that I didn't > squander my good health. I used it to the best of my ability and I have all > these great memories.> > "In arthritis circles we joke that good health is wasted (exclusively) on > the healthy."> But strong minds, as we now know, are not.> > > Tim Hogan can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 115 or thogan@s...