By
Katie Clark
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Arthritis sufferers say sharing feelings on paper creates friendship and relief
Arthritis is not just an "old person's" disease, says Terri Valenzuela.
It has many faces - young, old, male, female, wife, husband, mother, father.
Valenzuela is a 46-year-old single mother of three. She used to be a teacher. She used to be able to wake up in the morning without feeling pain, without feeling like she didn't want to go anywhere that day.
Then, overnight, she says it all changed.
She was diagnosed with lupus, an auto-immune disease. Then she was diagnosed with the rheumatoid arthritis that she says has "encompassed" her life.
But now she has found some solace in knowing that she is not alone.
Valenzuela is one of six people who participate in Enhance Healing by Writing, a class offered by the Arizona Arthritis Center at University Medical Center.
"It is real positive," says Irene Lasater, the instructor for the 10-week-long class, held every Monday at UMC. "People are smiling more, their physical well-being seems to be better, the way they walk, the friendliness."
The class began because of a study done in 1999 by the University of New York at Stony Brook. Findings indicated asthma and arthritis patients felt better - physically and mentally - after writing about stressful situations.
Yesterday's topic of the class was anger - about their disease - or condition, as the group likes to call it - or anger about life. They also wrote about how they can better deal with anger.
"Anger always seemed to be there when I tried to blame those I continually judged," reads 48-year-old student Rick, who declined to give his last name, from his writing of the day. He reads slowly, deliberately, but emotion comes through as he talks about difficult times in his life.
He personifies anger as a living entity that once consumed his life. But he also writes of anger as a teacher, as something he used to change his life.
"I do find life much easier since redirecting my energy and creatively living in my simple world of acceptance," he concludes. Rick also suffers from rheumatoid arthritis.
"Some people are at a different level of acceptance," he says. "The more you accept the disease, the more you can enjoy life."
Rick took the class to improve his writing skills - which are already "great," Valenzuela says - but has found that the class offers much more.
"I'm exploring even minuscule aspects of how arthritis affects our lives," he says. "I'm exploring, philosophizing - it's an outlet to deal with feelings."
Valenzuela says the class not only gives her a way to deal with her feelings, it lets her know she is not alone in her suffering.
"You can talk to people on the street, and you can tell them how you feel, but they don't know how you feel - they can't empathize," she says, looking at Rick, who nods in agreement.
"This class gives me something to look forward to," says Valenzuela. "I feel better about myself, like I'm getting part of the old me back."
