Share Six | Orange/Purple

This month’s theme is in honor of Psoriatic Arthritis awareness month, which is actually in May, but we are bringing awareness to it a little early.

Sharleen chose this theme as her daughter has psoriatic arthritis. Until not too long ago, I wasn’t very familiar with this autoimmune disease, that is, until my mom was diagnosed with it.  I’m still not incredibly familiar with the intricacies of it, but I know that it can be very unpleasant.  I have seen the visible marks this disease can inflict on a person.  I have also seen the physical pain that can wreak havoc on a person because of this disease.  Joint inflammation is no joke.  Watching my mother having a hard time walking and being in so much pain is so difficult to watch.  I’ve heard patients say they often deal with people’s stares, some even having people walk away from them as they assume it is some contagious disease because of the patches on their skin.  Not everyone has the skin lesions though.  Some only have the arthritis symptoms.  If you haven’t experienced inflammation in your joints, you really have no idea what these individuals deal with on a daily basis.  Many say it’s an invisible disease.  If you know someone well with this disease though, I’m sure you are familiar with how severely it affects their life.  You can see the ups and downs…one day they may not be stiff and may be able to walk with no problems, but the next day they can have a flare and can barely get up at all.  We all need to take more time to listen to those around us and have more understanding for what each person is dealing with.  We, here at Share Six, are hoping to shed some light on some diseases/conditions that we or our loved ones are dealing with.  Our images for this month are orange and purple in recognition of psoriatic arthritis awareness.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!  Continue on through the circle by heading over to Ceri Herd’s blog to see her amazing images!!