Elisa Wershba is a pediatric rheumatologist at Phoenix Children's. She completed her MD at George Washington University in DC, moved to Phoenix for residency, moved back east again to North Carolina. In NC she completed her fellowship in pediatric rheumatology at Duke while earning an MPH at UNC Chapel Hill. She returned to Phoenix in 2013 to join the department of pediatric rheumatology at Phoenix Children’s.
She regularly participates in the walk and volunteers at Camp Cruz. She looks forward to spending time with the campers and recognizes how fortunate our Arizona community is to have Camp Cruz. Camp Cruz offers an amazing opportunity for children living with rheumatic illness to spend a week away from home connecting with peers and mentors and participating in sports and activities that they otherwise would not experience.
Dr. Vincent Russo
Dr. Vincent Russo is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who has provided arthritis care to children and adults for over 4 decades. His father was an orthopedist and he is now joined in practice by his son, Dr. Matthew Russo. Highlights of his career include leading numerous orthopedic missions to Central America, developing methods of deformity correction and limb lengthening, and bringing improved quality of life to literally thousands of patients. He currently specializes in total knee replacements and is proud to be honored as one of this year’s orthopedists for the “Walk to Cure Arthritis”.
Dr. Matthew Russo
Dr. Matthew Russo is a fellowship-trained, board certified orthopedic surgeon specializing in both primary and revision total joint replacement. As a third-generation orthopedic surgeon, he is honored to continue the legacy of treating the orthopedic needs of this community. He performs anterior hip replacement in addition to total and partial knee replacement surgery.
Dr. Russo attended the University of Notre Dame prior to his completion of medical school at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He then completed his orthopedic residency at Georgetown University Hospital and a fellowship in Adult Reconstruction at the Anderson Orthopaedic Clinic in Alexandria, Virginia.
Nora Bacchus
Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
Child Honoree
Nora is a vibrant 11-year old. She loves theater, spending time with family and friends, going to the beach and traveling. She loves Minecraft and reading, and let’s be honest, she loves her iPad. On the outside, she’s just like any other 11-year old you might know, but she also has an inner strength that even some adults will never know, because of her journey with Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.
Nora first experienced joint pain in her wrists and then it began to jump around to her knees and ankles. Just after her 9th birthday she started limping and her journey to find a diagnosis officially began. Over the course of several months she battled joint pain, fevers, swollen and very sore lymph nodes. She had lots of blood work and doctor’s appointments, all of which included far too many needles. These were scary days as a family wondering what the future held. Finally, the combination of labs and an MRI confirmed her official diagnosis of SJIA in February of 2018.
Life was going to look a little different than planned, but it would take a lot more than arthritis to break Nora’s strong spirit and zest for life. Thankfully, Nora has been blessed with a doctor who keeps working to find the right mix of medications to help her not only look like your average 11-year old, but to actually feel like she’s 11 too. She has an amazing occupational therapist who has helped her fingers and wrists adapt to life with SJIA. And Nora is surrounded by family and friends who are here for her every step of the way. Despite the great support system in place, the reality is that without weekly shots (yuck and ouch!) and daily pills, Nora’s symptoms would return in full force again. Nora’s bravery and resilience continues to amaze those closest to her.
The Walk to Cure Arthritis is so special to Nora and her family. It gives this debilitating disease a face, a story, and reason to fight for a cure. It’s Nora’s story, along with all the other kiddos and adults who face the many forms of arthritis head on, that reminds us we need to keep pushing for better medicines, more doctors, and more research. And HOPE - we walk with hope that one day Nora will wake up arthritis free!
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