The ARHP Honors Health Professionals for their Contributions to Rheumatology

A: I think it varies. I found commuting to be a major obstacle, and the need to reduce burden, both in home activities as well as at-work activities. You need to get yourself into the kind of job where it’s the kind of work you can do.

Q: How can rheumatologists help RA patients with workplace needs?

A: The key to success is to get it addressed early. Just bringing it up to a patient early—before a patient ever mentions it—and realizing that a lot of patients are probably never going to mention it—and then getting them to give some thought to it.

Q: What does a lifetime achievement award mean to you?

A: To me it reflects the work that I’ve done professionally, but also on a volunteer basis. I have held a number of volunteer positions with the American Rheumatism Association [which was renamed the ACR in 1988), and I’ve done quite a bit with the Arthritis Foundation. I’ve been active on a variety of fronts, both professional and in volunteer work. It’s important to me because it reflects that whole body of work. In some ways it’s been so easy for me to maintain my long-term interest in this field because of my personal interest, but I feel like I’ve been able to give back to other people with arthritis, too, through my work, which is very gratifying.

ARHP Addie Thomas Service Award

Kathleen Arntsen, BA
President and Chief Executive Officer, Lupus Foundation of Mid and Northern New York, Inc., Verona, N.Y.

Background: Diagnosed with lupus as a senior in college, doctors gave Arntsen a “dismal” prognosis and told her family to remove her from school and “enjoy the time you have with her.” She was forced to quit the rugby team, was dropped from the European study group, and gave up her dream to live her life “as a Danielle Steele character.” Instead, she joined a lupus support group. The more she started to share, the more people were drawn to her and her positive attitude. The “natural thing to do” was to volunteer with the local Lupus Foundation, she says. Twenty-six years later, Arntsen has combined her condition, her can-do attitude, and her background in marketing and medical claims processing to become one of the strongest lupus advocates in the nation.

“I have a unique ability to give a perspective to legislators, the public, physicians, whoever the audience is, from a very special viewpoint,” she says. “Being a patient gives me a double-edged sword. I walk the walk, talk the talk, and live the life.”