The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday September 9, 2006 - 3 Living with pain Although Krista Rowan was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at a young age, she has not let the crippling disease ruin her life By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Going downstairs in the morning -- and making it on her own -- is a great day. Once very athletic, Krista Rowan, a 36-year-old mother of a robust five-year-old, now faces a daily battle against the crippling effects of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The Glen Abbey resident is also gearing up for a marathon in Hawaii this December. It's part of the Arthritis Society's Joints in Motion program. While most would drool at the chance to head to Hawaii, Rowan said, "The flight is going to be rough on me." That's the kind of change in perspective that Rowan has had to incor- "You don't even porate into her life after waking up realize how one morning a very frightened 29 year many joints you old. have until you "I literally woke up one morning and couldn't get dressed. I couldn't can feel every get into my shoes. I went to the doctor one of them." thinking I was having some kind of allergic reaction. My joints felt like Krista Rowan they were on fire and were very, very swollen," said Rowan. "You don't even realize how many joints you have until you can feel every one of them," she said. The medical verdict was not an allergic reaction, but rather a decree of RA and as Rowan researched it, it appeared to offer her a life sentence of infirmity at a tender age. Rowan's grandmother had RA and she remembers her grandmother's hands were very disfigured. She wasn't clear until now how much pain her grandmother must have endured to live with RA untreated. Rowan, who was working full time -- she still is the North American Bid Management Proposal Project Manager with a large firm -- had always been active and listed volleyball, softball and Rollerblading among her favourite activities. "Rollerblading 30 km was not problem," said Rowan. During her pregnancy after her RA diagnois, Rowan had to go off her medication. Seven months into the pregnancy she was completely crippled and in excruciating pain. Rowan had to wear splints on her arms in order to hold her son when he was born. Her son still asks her, "Mommy, when your body is feeling better, can we go to the zoo?" "My son was understanding it in how he communicated. It just killed me," said Rowan. ENJOYING THE MOMENT: Krista Rowan and her yellow lab, Murphy, take advantage of Rowan's ability to simply walk. See Rowan page 11 The One. The Only. Over 16,000 graduates in Oakville since 1979 (905) 845-7200 SEPTEMBER 23, 2 4, SATURDAY & 30 NOCTOBER 1 SU D 9:30am-1:15pm AY · 2 WEEKENDS NEXT COURSES: