Emily's Story
“I’m grateful for lessons I learned while fighting arthritis. I will use them while staying active within the projects of the Arthritis Foundation and finding a career working with rheumatic illnesses.”
Emily’s fight with arthritis and avascular necrosis was a four-year journey through many doctor appointments, needles, medicines and MRIs. It began when she was 13, the summer before her freshman year in high school, and ended with a double hip replacement in August 2016 when she was just 17 years old.
As her physical capabilities worsened in high school, Emily learned that there’s a beauty within fighting a chronic illness such as arthritis. It provides an understanding that health is fragile and should not be taken for granted. Days of not being able to complete simple tasks happened often. She began to have a greater appreciation for the days she could do those simple things.
Although she spoke with many surgeons who were hesitant of replacing her hips because of her young age, the deterioration of her hip bones had become severe and had given her no option but to go through with the surgery. Since receiving new hips, her life has been changed. She’s hiked in the Amazon, taken a mud bath with elephants in Chiang Mai, explored the streets of cities such as Bangkok and Buenos Aires, repelled down waterfalls and swam in both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean.
“I’m grateful for lessons I learned while fighting arthritis,” she says. “I look forward to using them while staying active within the projects of the Arthritis Foundation and finding a career working with rheumatic illnesses.”
As her physical capabilities worsened in high school, Emily learned that there’s a beauty within fighting a chronic illness such as arthritis. It provides an understanding that health is fragile and should not be taken for granted. Days of not being able to complete simple tasks happened often. She began to have a greater appreciation for the days she could do those simple things.
Although she spoke with many surgeons who were hesitant of replacing her hips because of her young age, the deterioration of her hip bones had become severe and had given her no option but to go through with the surgery. Since receiving new hips, her life has been changed. She’s hiked in the Amazon, taken a mud bath with elephants in Chiang Mai, explored the streets of cities such as Bangkok and Buenos Aires, repelled down waterfalls and swam in both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean.
“I’m grateful for lessons I learned while fighting arthritis,” she says. “I look forward to using them while staying active within the projects of the Arthritis Foundation and finding a career working with rheumatic illnesses.”