Young arthritis patient will kick off Jingle Bell Run

Harper Shook, 7, likes to play piano and T-ball, goes to church on Sunday and is in second grade in Mansfield.

Oh, and her mom says she is looking forward to leading off the 5K Fort Worth Jingle Bell Run/Walk for Arthritis on Saturday afternoon with her team of family and friends.

The afternoon of events downtown at Burnett Park, 501 W. Seventh St., begins at 2 with event registration and a family festival, followed by a 1-mile Reindeer Run at 4:30 and a 5K at 5 p.m.

Harper has psoriatic juvenile arthritis, diagnosed when she was 18 months old. The swelling prevented her from walking until age 2, but with continuing care and medications, she is living the life of, well, any 7-year-old.

“She’s very high-spirited and has a good attitude,” said Melissa Shook, Harper’s mom. “You wouldn’t know by looking at her that anything is wrong.”

While the diagnosis was shattering for her parents, the right care made a big difference.

“Everything was fine for the first year and a half, until they started tapering off her meds,” Shook said. “She developed uveitis in her left eye, which can cause blindness.”

It was detected early, medications were switched, and Harper has been in remission from that for about 21/2 years.

“The good thing is, the arthritis doesn’t bother her that much,” Shook said. “She’s getting headaches now, but the pain of walking has been good.”

For now the arthritis drug Humira is keeping Harper — who was supposed to lead the way at last year’s event before it was canceled because of bad weather — pain-free.

“We just take it day by day, see her rheumatologist every month and an endocrinologist and eye specialist every three months,” Shook said.

The Jingle Bell Run/Walk is a big fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation, which helps nearly 4 million adults and 25,000 children in Texas alone. When Harper’s family briefly lost her health insurance, the foundation connected the Shooks with representatives of drug companies.

“It’s been a lot of help to meet people in that business that can help us save money and teach us new diet and exercise tips,” Shook said. “The foundation also does a lot of events and family days for the kids. That’s really neat.”

The foundation works to help the public understand arthritis, which occurs in more than 100 forms and affects 50 million Americans of all ages.

Though most people think of arthritis as a condition that causes minor aches and pains in older people, some forms can seriously affect joints, muscles, internal organs and eyes. Nearly 10,000 people a year die from complications, according to the foundation.

Arthritis affects 1 in 5 adults, and two-thirds of its victims are under 65, including 300,000 children.

This story was originally published December 5, 2014 at 2:56 PM with the headline "Young arthritis patient will kick off Jingle Bell Run."