A Scavenger Hunt Reminded Me of My Limitations

I can hear the questions now. Why would you participate in a scavenger hunt if you have psoriatic arthritis? How in the world can a scavenger hunt remind me of my physical limitations?

Let me give you a bit of the back story. Recently, I attended a conference organized by the National Psoriasis Foundation called The Impact Volunteer Summit in Austin, Texas. Austin is 5-and-a-half-hour drive from where I live in Louisiana.

Given this fact, I decided I would drive to the hotel where this conference was happening. It wasn’t a bad trip, but my body, especially those areas affected by psoriatic arthritis, does not like long car rides. That should have been my first clue not to participate. However, since the scavenger hunt did not happen until the next day, I felt pretty good until I participated.

The difficulties of having fun with psoriatic arthritis

The host of the conference felt like since we had been sitting for hours hearing from presenters and such, it would be a good idea to have us move around. A scavenger hunt can be exciting and seemed like a neat idea to me.

We were split into groups and given hints on 10 things we were to locate in the hotel. Upon locating the item, we were to take a group picture of us with it.

Fun, right? Not when you are living with a knee that has multiple issues, including extensive psoriatic arthritis damage.

The group I was with wanted to basically run from point A to point B. My running days are long past over. I cannot even speedwalk.

I kept having to tell them to slow down. I could tell they were not happy with that since the winners got a gift card.

Realizations the hard way

I do not know why I did not think about it being next to impossible for me to participate in the hunt. It did not dawn on me that the group would be moving so quickly just to win. Needless to say, my knee started swelling after all of that.

To make matters worse, the conference ended early enough that I still had to drive home. The hotel that the conference was at was very costly, and I could not afford to stay at it.

I probably could have found another hotel that cost less, but not really knowing the area, I thought it was better to drive home. I used the cruise control as much as possible, so I didn’t have to use the knee as much. The next day, I was able to rest completely and let my knee settle down.

Learning to listen to my body

The best lesson is the hardest lesson learned. That is a statement that I had heard many times growing up. I can say that it is a true statement.

The next time something comes up, like a scavenger hunt, I will gracefully decline to join in. It was a hard lesson to learn, especially when the knee started swelling. Having had psoriatic arthritis for a long time, I should have known better.

So many times I have told people to listen to their bodies when it comes to their psoriatic arthritis and rest when needed. I should have and will follow my own advice going forward.