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Community Corner

Keep Strong, Squeak On

This May, internet support group, Squeaky Joints will be attending the Greater Hartford 2014 Walk to Cure Arthritis. This will be the fifth year Squeaky Joints has teamed with the Arthritis Foundation to raise funds to cure arthritis. 
Arthritis affects 50 million Americans including 30,000 children according to the Arthritis Foundation web site. Since its inception in 2011, Squeaky Joints has a following of 3,500 members and growing. According to their website http://www.squeakyjoints.com, Squeaky Joints is, “a safe haven to be yourself and not be judged or bullied for your choices regarding your care.”  Brigid Laurito and Peggy Piscopo co-founded the group after participating in other support groups. “We were looking for a support group that fit our personalities; a safe place where we could be ourselves,” said Laurito. Laurito and Piscopo founded the group in the summer of 2011, and within eight weeks had over 300 members. 
“The annual Walk to Cure Arthritis held by the Arthritis Foundation is very special to us. Squeak Joints was a year old when Peggy boarded a plane in California to come out to our walk. When I picked her up from the airport it was the first time we saw each other in person,” smiles Laurito. 
For many of the Squeaky Joint members or Squeakers, the Walk to Cure Arthritis is their favorite day of the year.  People from all over the country and state convene to laugh, hug, and lift each other up. “This is my favorite day. Some people wait for their birthdays, but the walk is the day all of my family and friends who quietly support me throughout the year gather in one space. All of my favorite people will be there.”  
Laurito is one of the 50 million Americans living and dying with arthritis in the United States. Over the years she has attended many of these walks, the first year with a cane, and the next a wheelchair. Laurito was 34 when she got the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. “At first I didn’t know what that meant. I was young, how could I have Arthritis? I didn’t know that Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune disease.”
This year Laurito is returning to the Walk to Cure Arthritis in remission. That means no signature hot pink cane or rhinestone encrusted wheelchair. “I know I’m lucky this year. Many of my friends aren’t in remission, and there are a few faces I will miss.” Three of the common diseases that make up arthritis are osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and juvenile arthritis. According to the Arthritis Foundation web site people with arthritis account for 44 million outpatient visits and 992,100 hospitalizations annually. This year the Connecticut Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation seeks to raise $104,580. 
The walk takes place at University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford on May 4th at 9a.m.  Participants can register on site or at www.arthritis.org/Connecticut. For more information please contact Brigid Laurito Co-Founder Squeaky Joints at squeakyjoints@gmail.com or (860) 301-6391.

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