Omaha, Nebraska
19 Members
Live Yes! Connect Groups offer local connections, education and empowerment. Adults living with arthritis from our local community come together for professional- and volunteer-led sessions on topics geared toward young adults, as well as fun group activities.
We offer a place of understanding and encouragement for both people living with arthritis and their loved ones. Group participants become self-advocates, develop self-management skills and learn how to not just survive life with arthritis but to thrive.
Upcoming Events
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Wednesday, February 19th, 20251:30 PM ET30m
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Virtual Event
- 0 people attending
Join us to learn how you can continue to find support through National Connect Groups and Arthritis Foundation resources online.
This event will be hosted by Nadja. Please reach out with any questions ([email protected]).
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Thursday, February 27th, 2025
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Virtual Event
- Event List
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Wednesday, February 19th, 20251:30 PM ET30m
-
Virtual Event
- 0 people attending
Join us to learn how you can continue to find support through National Connect Groups and Arthritis Foundation resources online.
This event will be hosted by Nadja. Please reach out with any questions ([email protected]).
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Thursday, February 27th, 2025
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Virtual Event
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Thursday, March 27th, 2025
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Virtual Event
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Friday, March 28th, 2025
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Saturday, June 7th, 2025
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Thursday, July 10th, 2025
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Connect Groups - Omaha - Young Adults
Comment
Comments [2]
Hi everyone - I hope you're all enjoying your Sunday and gearing up for a great week ahead. Let me introduce myself! My name is Brittany Mattern and I am the Facilitator for the Nebraska Young Adult Connect Group.
A little bit about me - I am 25 (about a couple weeks away from 26) years old and currently reside in Lincoln, NE. I am a Sales Manager at Hudl, a sports technology company headquartered out of Lincoln. I'll soon be celebrating my 2 year wedding anniversary with my husband and we have a 1 year old Cockapoo named Moose! I originally grew up in north central Nebraska in a small town of about 600 poeple. I was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis when I was 2.5 years old. It was originally just in my knees, but very quickly spread throughout my entire body. Thankfully, I received a diagnosis within about 3 months of symptoms starting and, for the most part, was able to have a fairly normal (although growing up with an autoimmune disease is never normal) childhood. I had some involvement in Arthritis Foundation events as a child, but living so far away from the "big cities" of Lincoln and Omaha made active involvement tough. It wasn't until I was in college at UNK that I began to become more and more involved.
I am so excited to be leading this group and connecting with all of you. We'll begin getting some events setup for us all but until then, I'd appreciate you all posting here a quick tidbit about yourself. Some prompts to help you get started:
Quick introduction of yourself; any fun facts you'd like to share?
What/who brought you here?
Name a few things you would love to see/have mentioned/or any resources that would be helpful
Any specific topics for events you'd like us to try and plan?
Speak with you all soon!
-Brittany
Hi Everyone!
I think it's about time I introduced myself! My name is Kassie and I am 22 years old. I was officially diagnosed around the age of 2 with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. My symptoms started out as swollen toe and finger( that were usually blamed on the big brother) that then moved to fingers, toes, hands, eyes, and knees. Luckily for me my parents noticed symptoms and took immmediate action in helping to find medication to manage pain. I am able to function as any other 22 year old would becuase of this.
Now I would love to get to know each of you!
1- Introduce yourself!!
2- What/ who brought you here?
3- Name a few things you would love to see/ have mentioned/ or any resources that would be helpful!
Hi,
I'm Jessica, I'm 32 and have some other autoimmune health disorders. I developed arthritis a few years ago as a side effect of prednisone I was on in high doses for the autoimmune issues. I had to have two partial knee surgeries and was put on opioids to control the pain. I broke my femur in 2019 and since it was misdiagnosed (after 6 trips to the ER I was given muscle relaxers) it split through my knee and hip so I had to have multiple additional surgeries to be able to even walk. I used to be an ultra marathon runner, I can no longer do that but I'm getting back to running and getting off the pain meds for good hopefully. I'm looking for new ways to help treat the pain so I can run more frequently and for longer distances. I've tried CBD but all my research has lead me to think medical marijuana would be better, but since it's illegal in NE that's not yet an option. I have an MPH degree (master of public health) and I was pre-med before I switched to public health so I know a decent amount about the healthcare field and I'm good at doing research to be able to determine effective treatments. So far what has worked best for me is high dose magnesium and CBD in combination with tramadol and a CBD cream and a lidocaine cream and a magnesium oil spray or cream. I hate to have to continue to use the tramadol though as opioids are never a good long term solution even if used carefully and as prescribed, over time they lose their effectiveness.
If anyone else has read any pain relief studies or has anything that works for them I would love to hear. I also use stabilizing support braces though I don't feel like they help that much, mostly weigh me down. I would love to hear other running with arthritis tips from other young adults or medications you might have tried that I could ask my doctor about. I'm allergic to that over the counter arthritis anti-inflammation cream they make, it makes my hands swell and break out in a rash, so that's not an option. I tried a different oral med a few years ago but do to my bone density issues and breaking my femur, my doctor took me off of it.
Hope to get to know other people on here and learn/share tips with people.
Thanks so much!