Kathy's Story
Kathy Geller has touched many lives during her years as an Arthritis Foundation exercise trainer and education program presenter. She has struggled and lived with degenerative OA for 18 years.
Kathy has touched many lives during the years she spent as an Arthritis Foundation exercise trainer and education program presenter – a role model for successful self-management.
During her 18-year struggle with severe osteoarthritis (OA), she wasn’t always a Champion of Yes. She helped others battling arthritis, but inwardly, she was overwhelmed by the limits arthritis put on her. She couldn’t hold her grandchild because her hands were in casts after joint replacement. She had to give up her profession because she could no longer assist clients or lift the equipment necessary to train them. She couldn’t stay in the family home her husband and she built because it was too difficult for her after the multiple surgeries.
“Giving in should not be confused with giving up,” says Kathy. “I have finally accepted I am living with a chronic disease. OA is not life-threatening, but it’s insidious. It can slowly chip away at your cartilage and your spirit. But with the help of the Arthritis Foundation, I’ve begun to turn a No into a Yes. I have found my voice through the Foundation’s Ambassador program.”