Thriving With Osteoarthritis
For Tonya Horton, knowledge is power and the key to living her best life with arthritis while helping others do the same.
Tonya Horton of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, was in her 40s when she discovered why cooking, cleaning and even, commuting to work left her in excruciating pain. Her knees would not cooperate any longer. She had undiagnosed arthritis.
Her suburban, three-story home with the washer-dryer in the basement and the master bedroom on the top floor soon became more like an obstacle course than a sanctuary.
“All of those day-to-day things that I was so used to doing, I couldn’t do anymore,” recalls Horton, an executive vice president for an education nonprofit. “It was so painful trying to go up and down the stairs to wash clothes and get in and out of cars.”

“It was horrible. I used to travel a lot for work and had trouble sitting on the plane for an extended amount of time,” she says. “And the pain was so bad that I couldn’t work out.”
In 2019, Horton went to her primary care physician for help. The doctor ordered X-rays of her knees and referred her to an orthopedic surgeon, who specializes in treating musculoskeletal problems that affect bones and soft tissues in the body.
The orthopedist delivered some surprising news to Horton: “You have the knees of a 70-year-old woman,’’ Horton recalls the doctor telling her. He was expecting to see a senior citizen when he walked in the room. “I was 45.”
Horton’s diagnosis: osteoarthritis (OA). “He said it was pretty severe, bone-on-bone, and that I would need knee replacement surgery at age 50,” Horton recalls.
Horton couldn’t believe her ears. Osteoarthritis? Her mother and grandmother had arthritis, but it was the last thing she expected the doctor to tell her. “I thought I had sprained or tore something in my knee,” she says.
The orthopedist discussed Horton’s options and said she could live a fulfilling life with osteoarthritis if she managed the pain, lost weight, and eventually considered surgery. Ignoring it could cause joint deformity. Horton said she wasn’t a candidate for knee replacement surgery at the time because of her weight, so she tried water aerobics — until the COVID-19 pandemic halted group lessons.
Then Horton opted for bariatric surgery to decrease her body mass and relieve the pressure on her knees. But before she could schedule the procedure, her pre-surgical appointments uncovered a more pressing medical issue: She had large polyps on her appendix and colon that had to be surgically removed immediately.
During downtime after the surgery, Horton did some research on living with OA. A friend who had juvenile arthritis told her about the Arthritis Foundation. It is where Horton found a community of people who understood her.
“I didn’t know the Arthritis Foundation existed,” she says. “It gave me a place to connect and learn from people who share similar journeys.”

Never Feel Alone
A few years since her diagnosis, Horton has evolved. She lost more than 50 pounds without surgery or starving herself. “My knees hurt sometimes, but not every day,” she says. “Every 10 pounds you lose takes about 40 pounds of pressure off your knees.”
And she has made some other lifestyle modifications. Horton bought a ranch-style house with first-floor living and a basement. The stairs don’t bother her as much as they used to. And she has embraced comfortable footwear.
“I spend my time in cute flats and sneakers because heels are too much for my knees,” she says.
Horton shares her story with Black women and other women of color every chance she gets.
“What surprised me most when I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis was learning that African Americans are one of the biggest groups to get it,” she says. “I didn’t know that. Information is power. It is important that Black people do the research and seek treatment for their pain.”
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