Miss Michigan 2011 Close To Senior Population

From the Dancing With Our Local Stars 2011 Program Book.

Elizabeth Wertenberger was a victim of the autoimmune disease, Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis(JRA) since the age of 3. Doctors predicted she would never go into remission and likely would end up confined to a wheelchair by the age of 18. She made the conscious decision not to give up. After a year and half of treatment she had shown no improvement. Her last option was oral chemotherapy. Soon after beginning chemotherapy, she began to suffer from extreme side effects; it was limiting her quality of life.

After skimming through a book on natural cures, she made the decision to stop the chemotherapy treatment and sought out an herbologist and an acupuncturist. After six weeks of this alternative therapy, she went back to her doctor and to her and her colleagues absolute disbelief, she was in complete remission. She was able to walk, run and even dance and feels she has been given a second chance at life.

It was this arthritic condition that brought her close to the senior population, as she could identify with them so well because of the movement impairment that they experience due to arthritis. She began dance and exercise classes for them and for several years she has been an active volunteer at numerous nursing homes.

Her local and now State crown has offered her the stage to help others learn how to dance again and to encourage them to continue to dream and reach for the unreachable, because dreams do come true!

Submitted by Peggy Jo -
Visit peggyjo Website