Show Us Your Hands! Releases Our Hands Can! Photo Book in Celebration of Arthritis Awareness Month
(May 7, 2012) – Show Us Your Hands!
is pleased to announce the release of its Our Hands Can! photo book, the latest
in a series of successful initiatives aimed at uniting the community of
individuals who are living with inflammatory arthritis and increasing the
public’s awareness of this group of autoimmune diseases. This photo book
contains the inspiring photographs and moving stories of dozens of people of
all ages from around the world who live with different types of inflammatory
arthritis and is being released today in celebration of Arthritis Awareness
Month.
May is National Arthritis Awareness
Month in the United States. Its goal is to bring attention to the issues and
realities faced by people who live with one of the more than 100 different
types of arthritis. More than 46 million people live with arthritis in the US,
including 300,000 children. It is the most common cause of disability.
The Our Hands Can! photo book is
available for purchase at Blurb in both hardcover format and softcover format. “Being part of this has made me feel proud of who I am with
rheumatoid arthritis and all for the first time in a long time,” says Samantha
Legere, who is profiled in the photo book. Founding director Lene Andersen
adds, “Our Hands Can! is a tangible affirmation that all of us who live with
inflammatory arthritis find a way to live meaningful,
productive and joyful lives. Our hands may hurt and bear the visible signs of
our disease, but it doesn't stop us!” All funds raised from the sale of these
photo books go to Show Us Your Hands!, an international awareness movement
which serves to unite and inspire the inflammatory arthritis community.
The Show Us Your Hands! inflammatory
arthritis community collage project debuted in December 2011. People of all
ages from around the world are represented in this community project and new
photos continue to be added to on a regular basis. The community collage
project serves not only as a symbol of the wonderfully supportive inflammatory
arthritis community that continues to grow and connect online, but also acts as
a reminder that people who live with these diseases should be proud of, and not
ashamed of, their inflammatory arthritis hands. By April 2011, the Show Us Your
Hands! inflammatory arthritis community collage project had grown to include
more than 1,000 hands.
Autoimmune diseases occur when a
body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. In the case of
inflammatory arthritis, a person’s joints are frequently attacked, resulting in
chronic pain and debilitating inflammation. The most common inflammatory
arthritis diseases are Ankylosing Spondylitis, Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis,
Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, Psoriatic Arthritis, Reactive Arthritis,
Rheumatoid Arthritis, Scleroderma, Sjogren's Syndrome, Still's Disease and
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
Show Us Your Hands! is an
international awareness movement which serves to unite and inspire the
inflammatory arthritis community. For more information, please visit www.showusyourhands.org. Show Us Your Hands! can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.
Comments
Our pediatrician, years ago, had the most damaged looking hands but I had no idea: the day I sobbed that I'd just been diagnosed with lupus, she immediately pronounced, It's okay. I've had it for 18 years.
Meaning she'd gone through med school with that? Wow! Well, then, I could handle a kid in diapers and his older siblings. And I did.
I ran into her nearly two years ago and got to tell her her one-time two-year-old patient and his wife were expecting Parker. So much joy shared in that moment!
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