Rooted in Advocacy...

It's time to plant another blog post. This one has been in the works for several months. I will be sharing how my path to advocacy became significant... all centered around a special day almost 11 years ago. I had shared a piece that was originally published in the CreakyJoints Newsletter with one of my readers and friend, who has been so supportive of this blog. The suggestion was that it would be a good idea to include this particular piece in one of my planted blog posts. This got my wheels turning and thought of several other items I could include that would put all of this together beautifully. I want to thank my friend, for offering me this great suggestion, in order to get all of this planted. The title was also an inspiration from that wonderful idea, which marked a new beginning for me personally. Let me expound in the next paragraph. 

On April 20, 2012, I had the great pleasure of working with CreakyJoints for the first time. It was in commemoration of my 11th anniversary of taking a biologic Enbrel (etanercept) which is a TNF (tumor necrosis blocker). I will be forever grateful to the scientist who discovered this molecule, so that biologics could be manufactured for inflammatory diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). We talked about the rigorous process in which biologics are manufactured. Enbrel was one of the first and that was in 1998. CreakyJoints was founded in 1999. A little trivia for my readers. 

More will be explained about that day with the published blog post I will be sharing later. I was also in the midst of another project with "Show Us Your Hands." It was a book project where I shared my hands story and also to help illustrate with several photos, which happened to be taken by the videographer who was also involved during my work advocacy day with CreakyJoints. 

Here is a photo that was taken between meetings that day. It was not chosen for the book project, but it still remains one of my favorites. 

                                                Taken on the North Dakota State Capitol Grounds 

It was a wonderful day for me personally. I was tired after that day, but so glad I took the risk with making that pivotal phone call, one Monday evening regarding dealing with RA in the Workplace. It was the beginning of a whole new chapter for me. As was shared in last month's planted blog post; "Knowing Your Soil" was my experience of working with CreakyJoints for the 2nd time, testifying at the state capitol. This was truly a stepping stone for that experience. 

Here is a note I received from Seth Ginsberg the President and co-founder of CreakyJoints who is also a friend, after that great experience.   

I will close with the original published piece from Seth's Diary. It was great to be recognized for all of my hard work that day. It's also Sunshine Saturday for April and I have another exercise for you. How have you become rooted in advocacy or if you are not there yet, what would be your approach in achieving that goal?

It all has to start somewhere. Remember, we all have a story to tell. 

I hope you've enjoyed this special planted blog post. On April 20th it will be 22 years since I started administering Enbrel. I recently found out during my visit with the rheumatologist, that I continue to remain in RA clinical joint remission. It has been over 3 years. I still live with the disease, but at this time has quieted down and is not as active. 

Until next time, keep on blooming!

❤️ Brenda