‘You Can Still Do What You Love’: Learning to Adjust to Life with an Early-Onset Arthritis Diagnosis
By Chrissy Ngugi
A year ago, I was having the time of my life dancing away at a late-night DJ set in Washington DC’s Echostage. There I was, pumping my fist in the air, swaying to the captivating electronic beats, getting lost in the music. At some point that night, I twinged my right knee; I have no recollection of doing it. I must have danced pretty hard because the next day, I woke up with intense pain. I figured I just hit it a little too hard on the dancefloor, iced it and continued on with my life.
Fast forward to a year later: after lots of ice compressions, rest, knee elevations and a six-month trip across numerous European countries involving lots of walking and sightseeing, I realised that it had been a year and my knees were still in pain! I’ve always had sensitive knees, but this felt different. I decided to investigate it further and see an actual Orthopedic doctor. Going into that visit, I honestly was expecting that maybe I dislocated my knee, or that something was torn, or inflamed. The last thing that I thought the doctor was going to say with complete confidence after checking my x-ray scans and examining my knee was that I have early-onset arthritis!
I blinked twice. Told him, no, try again, that can’t be my diagnosis. He sat down, turned his chair to face me, looked at me with his serious doctor face and said, I’m afraid it is. I couldn’t believe it. Early-onset arthritis, at 37? Really? Apparently, this can be quite common for teenagers, young adults or people who are in their 30s, but I have never heard anyone in my age group or younger speaking about this subject matter. This silence, I think, was part of the reason why I was in complete denial and shock about my new diagnosis.
What this also meant was that I could no longer participate in some of my favourite activities: basketball, high-intensity exercises, running – definitely no marathons for me (although, I’m low-key kind of celebrating having this excuse not to). But hiking is literally my jam! Apparently, walking on uneven terrain puts a strain on your joints. Who knew?! I also wondered; did I do this to myself? With my love of dancing, running and hiking, did I cause my arthritis?
Thankfully, there are a bunch of ‘low impact’ alternatives that I am allowed to do. The list includes cycling (there’s nothing I love more than cycling through Amsterdam whenever I visit that gorgeous city), any elliptical machines, swimming, water aerobics (I've literally never seen anyone younger than 50 doing water aerobics!), tai-chi, yoga, pilates – these last two with moderations to what my knees can handle. It dawned on me why you always see older generations doing swimming workouts; being submerged in water makes doing any activity a low-impact activity. It’s gentler for your joints.
After being given each of these lists, I was referred to a physical therapist to help strengthen the knee, and that was the end of my appointment. My whole world had shifted. I remember sitting in the car after looking at nothing in particular and thinking to myself, wait, what just happened? I was left feeling pretty low and discouraged and frankly pissed off at my ageing joints. I'm too young to be dealing with this. Was I now to be confined to a knee brace (that I had been wearing for the past year) forever?
Later that week, I went to my physical therapy appointment. Seeing older people doing various exercises made me feel even more depressed about my body’s situation. I was told to do some specific knee exercises every day because this would help strengthen my knees and would help ease the pain. I looked at my very nice physical therapist and found that very hard to believe, but I figured, why not give it a shot?
A month later, my knee pain was practically gone. Well, not truly gone. Every now and then I get some twinges and aches, especially after going downstairs – stairs are my arch nemesis. But the pain is miles better than it was a month ago. I’m now back at the gym, mindfully, and have even taken up a weekly Zumba swimming class. I'm going to add that I’m definitely the only person in that class under 60! But that’s all good. I now know what my body needs, and what modifications I need to add to my fitness lifestyle.
In retrospect, being diagnosed with early-onset arthritis wasn’t the end of the world. There are way worse things that I could be dealing with. I only wished that more people would speak about this who are my age or younger. That way, it doesn’t have to be such a negative, scary diagnosis. I also wish there were more articles or TV shows that featured people who are young and talk about this subject matter.
I decided to continue doing what I love. I do yoga (with modifications) and replaced running with brisk walking (on pavements – not uneven terrain). I do my daily knee exercises religiously, lift weights with moderation and caution, and work on being stronger to support my joints and muscles as they continue to age. I also will NOT give up on my dream of hiking the Appalachian Trail when I turn 40. I now know that I need to build up muscle and endurance so that my knees will be well protected and able to handle that kind of intense activity. Did I mention that it can take 5 to 7 months to hike the trail? Wish me luck!
What I have learned from this diagnosis is that knowledge is power. I’m choosing to speak out more about this to help people who are in the position I was in to learn how to make changes to their lifestyle to be able to live with early-onset arthritis. I’m incredibly lucky that I am the kind of person who sees life as a glass half full.
Yes, I have early-onset arthritis. It is what it is. Sometimes in life, you just gotta learn to deal with it – and talk more about it!