After struggling with an inflammatory disease affecting her joints and spine, new medicine has allowed Charis to get back to her favorite outdoor activities. #ImNotAverage
- Condition: Ankylosing Spondylitis
- Age: 29
- Location: Sacramento, CA
Charis has always been an athlete and played any sport she could growing up, including soccer for Meredith College, despite various unexplained severe aches and pains that began when she was 13. Just after her 25th birthday she was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, an autoimmune, inflammatory disease that affects the spine and joints – and one that also affects her own father. “When I was diagnosed, I knew the only ways to regain control of my life were to tell my story and push for the right treatment from the start.”
Now 28, and after a few years of treatment with new medicines, Charis has control over the worst of her symptoms and is back to running outdoors when she can in addition to riding her bicycle as her main transportation. She is regaining belief in her athletic abilities and her tenacity about life. “I will not let this disease define me,” she says today, “and I’ll continue to push for a cure until my last breath.”