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Sarah's
life with arthritis stirs awareness campaign
by Chris West
Public Relations
With sugar, spice and everything nice, sometimes come lemons and sour
grapes. Little Sarah Windham is using everything she is made of to turn
a crippling condition into an awareness and fundraising campaign for arthritis
research.
 Sarah
Windham, 4, and mother, Kathy.
Sarah's campaign had humble beginnings with participation in local Arthritis
Foundation walks, it followed a natural progression spanning the region
and eventually the country.
The Lowcountry 4-year-old was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when
she was 15 months old.
“The first function that I participated in was a local walk in 1998
in support of arthritis victims,” said Kathy Windham, Sarah's mother. “Initially,
I wanted to get involved for the future of my child, but I realized this
went way beyond the bounds of my family.”
What began as a simple local fundraising walk has become a labor of
love for the entire family. Kathy's husband Scott, a 10-year employee of
Bayer Pharmaceutical Research Company, sought out the support of his fellow
employees with much success. Windham went door-to-door collecting donations
from friends and neighbors and the family participated in all the local
events to raise funds for Carolina's Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation.
Even Sarah's older siblings, Kristin and Stephen contributed their part
by taking up collections in their schools. For two consecutive years, Windham
and her family were the top fundraisers in the region.
But this was just the tip of the iceberg.
“We realized that the world of arthritis existed beyond the local events
we had participated in when Sarah was selected to attend the American Junior
Arthritis Organization's National Conference in Orlando this past August
as recognition of her support and fundraising efforts for the foundation,”
Windham said.
Upon returning from the conference and finding that this year's local
walk would not take place, the Windhams set their eyes on larger goals.
“Our next and biggest project is the Honolulu Marathon on Dec. 10,”
Windham said of she and her husband's upcoming venture. “After getting
more information about the event, we knew it was something we wanted to
be a part of. For the sake of Sarah and everyone else with this condition.”
The condition Windham is talking about is the severe case of rheumatoid
arthritis that attacks Sarah's right knee.
“I couldn't believe the news,” Windham said. “I didn't even know children
could get arthritis. I had always assumed it was an elderly condition,
not something my daughter could be susceptible to. Unfortunately, I was
wrong.”
Sarah eventually found herself under the care of Richard Silver, M.D.,
and director of the Department of Medicine's Division of Rheumatology and
Immunology.
“Dr. Silver was very concerned for Sarah from the very beginning,”
Windham said. “And that hasn't changed a bit. He remains very involved
with the Arthritis Foundation and Sarah's wellbeing. You can see his compassion
and tell that it hurts him very much to see children in pain.”
This is apparent in that Sarah was one of the patients chosen to present
the Lifetime Achievement Award to former MUSC President, James B. Edwards,
DMD, this past April at the Arthritis Foundation's Lifetime Achievement
Award Dinner. Attending more and more functions prompted the Windhams to
get involved beyond that of just Sarah's case and led them to the Joints
in Motion program.
The nearly three-year old project of the Arthritis Foundation sends
fundraisers to Arthritis Foundation-sponsored marathons to participate,
raise awareness and funds and compete in honor of an arthritis victim.
“I have to admit, I am nervous about the race, being our first marathon,”
Windham said. “We have been taking long walks but I wish we had more time
to train and actually run the race. Scott and I have opted to jog and walk,
attempting a 15-minute mile pace. But even if we have to crawl, we will
finish that race.”
The program began in Carolina's Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation
in 1998 in an effort to promote arthritis awareness, sports and nutrition
counseling and to generate funds for research.
“To date we have sent 65 people to marathons for arthritis awareness,”
said Shawna Culler, special events manager for Carolina's Chapter of the
Arthritis Foundation. “Participants must raise $3,500 per runner or guest
and we in turn supply the round-trip tickets and hotel accommodations,
a pre-race training program and entry to the marathon. We sent runners
to the Vancouver Marathon in May, a marathon in Dublin, Ireland in October
and the last one for the year is the upcoming race in Honolulu.”
To gain help in the fundraising, Windham contacted a representative
at Bayer in New Jersey and brainstormed as to what else could be done for
the needed funds. This gave birth to “Sarah's Smile,” a section on the
Aleve Web site that has pledged to donate $1 to her foundation for every
click on Sarah's picture. The goal of Sarah’s Smile is to raise $10,000
for arthritis research.
While Sarah is currently in remission, she still fights a daily battle
with her condition. She must have blood work done every six weeks; she
sees an ophthalmologist every three months and takes her medication, Methotrexate,
once a week.
The blood work is to check on her medication's strain on her liver
and kidneys, her ophthalmologist visits are to check for the condition
spreading to her eyes which could cause chronic iridocyclitis and could
rob her of her sight. Her once every three months visits with Silver are
to monitor her other joints for signs of the disease spreading.
Aside from her busy schedule as youth arthritis ambassador and fundraiser,
Sarah enjoys her job as a four-year-old little girl best.
“Sarah loves to play catch with her daddy, jump on the trampoline in
the back yard and everything else a little girl enjoys, but ice skating
is her favorite,” Windham chimed. “We have to deck her out in elbow and
knee pads and a helmet, but she has become quite an accomplished skater
after more than six months worth of lessons.”
The Windhams plan on continuing their involvement with the Arthritis
Foundation and in raising awareness of arthritis in both children and adults
locally and nationally. “We are just going to keep doing whatever it takes
to ensure that support is there for research, hospitals and doctors who
are out there to fight this disease.”
For information on helping the Windhams and the Arthritis Foundation
go to <http://www.aleve.com>.
For more information regarding Joints in Motion or your local chapter
of the Arthritis Foundation visit <http://www.arthritis.org> .
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