By Shari Kaplan
The Bay Area Lupus Foundation holds its second annual Los Gatos 5K Lupus '96 Run April 20 at Vasona Lake County Park. The event is a fundraiser supporting BALF's programs for local lupus victims. A 5K walk, youth races and a short course will also be held in the park's vicinity.
BALF was established in January 1978 by a small group of interested individuals in the kitchen of former Los Gatan Jo Dewhirst, who now serves as executive director.
According to Pam Gennow, BALF board member, marketing committee member and education committee co-chair, Santa Clara Valley alone is home to approximately 9,000 people with lupus, a chronic disorder of the immune system causing inflammation and damage to the skin, joints, nerves or internal organs. Its severity varies from person to person or even from week to week in the same person.
"It's hard to tell exactly where lupus begins and ends. It takes some patients up to five years to be accurately diagnosed," explains Gennow, a Los Gatos resident who received her own diagnosis about four years ago. She said many newly diagnosed patients she speaks with automatically assume they're going to die within eight to 10 years--a worst-case scenario. The good news is that through effective treatment programs, 90 percent of lupus patients can live normal life spans.
Fundraisers like the Lupus Run enable BALF to offer periodicals, seminars, workshops and other support services to help people cope with the disorder. Gennow says that support services have made a big difference in helping her cope with the frequent pain and fatigue of lupus.
"To look at any of us, you wouldn't have a clue that we're sick. That's what's so frustrating. The more I talk about it, the easier it gets," Gennow says. "The reason our disease is so unknown is because there's really no cure and it's not that easy to define."
Gennow plans to do the 5K walk come April 20, provided she doesn't experience a "flare"--a period when the disease is more severe. Times of emotional stress can contribute to flares, as stress affects the immune system. Gennow says an additional problem rising from lupus is an increased susceptibility to catching colds, flu or other communicable diseases.
The run takes place at 9 a.m. along the Los Gatos Creek Trail, with registration at Vasona Park. Participants should have $20 in donor support if preregistered by April 10 or $25 for late or on-site registration. Children 13 and younger need $5 in donations to register.
All participants receive T-shirts and goodie bags. First and second place in each category will be awarded, as will raffle prizes.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, April 10, 1996.
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