BENDIGO\u2019S Young Women\u2019s Arthritis Support Group brings together an often-forgotten group of people with the condition.<\/p>\n
Each month around 10 women of working age meet for a breakfast catch up and to hear of others\u2019 experience in the city\u2019s small world of professional arthritis treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe catch up once a month just for an informal chat and everyone\u2019s got different types of arthritis, some people might have had arthritis since they were children or might have recently been diagnosed as well,\u201d facilitator Dionne Lynch said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people probably associate arthritis with someone that\u2019s older and they say \u2018oh you\u2019re too young to have arthritis\u2019, so it\u2019s good to have that community connection with other women of a similar age that are going through the same journey that maybe have to manage [arthritis] with work and children as well,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Lynch started the Bendigo YWASG around three years ago after the original Melbourne group, founded some 30 years ago, suggested she run her own meetups when the trips down to the state capital became too much for her physically.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said, \u2018why don\u2019t you try and start a group in Bendigo?\u2019 and then I realised that there were so many women that were in the same boat,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
During the COVID-19 lockdowns Ms Lynch said the group remained connected through Zoom meetings and since the beginning of the year they have welcomed five new members.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery month we\u2019ve got new people come along which is great,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople can come and chat about their experience especially since a lot of their specialists are not local.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople travel to Melbourne or Geelong or Shepparton as well, so they don\u2019t really have any connection locally to do with their arthritis so it\u2019s really beneficial to catch up with a local group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Lynch, who has ankylosing spondylitis, an auto-immune arthritis, said people living regionally with arthritis are at a great disadvantage when attempting to seek medical help. Personally, she travels to Geelong for professional treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a whole day out that\u2019s worn you out and it\u2019s a whole day off work as well. You\u2019re exhausted by the end of the trip,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s not something that you can just say \u2018hey I\u2019m having a really bad couple of weeks can I make an appointment?\u2019, you can\u2019t jump in the car, it needs to be planned in advance because it\u2019s a whole day trip out just for an appointment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Lynch is hoping to arrange more formal group activities in the future and said, \u201cThat would be ideal later on down the track when we get a bit more settled and things are back to normal\u201d.<\/p>\n