34th Jingle Bell Run to battle arthritis set for Sunday

Dr. Majd Tarabichi sees arthritis up close in his practice.

It is, he says, “debilitating” and, for some, the continual suffering can be worse than death.

So one of the best parts of his practice is seeing his patients after surgery.

“They can get back to doing what they want to do,” he said of their life after recovery.

Tarabichi, of OAK Orthopedics, a division of the Illinois Bone & Joint Institute, is this year’s medical honoree for the Jingle Bell Run and Walk.

This year’s run, the 34th annual in Kankakee County, will be held at 9 a.m. Sunday at Kankakee Community College. The event includes a 5k competitive run, a 5k competitive walk and a fun walk. A Jingle in the Water Swim was set at the Kankakee Area YMCA 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 1.

The event has a goal of raising $20,000 and was more than halfway there by Thanksgiving.

The best way to sign up is to log in at jbr.org/Kankakee. There are different fees for different events. The sooner you sign up the lower the fee. Participants can also register the day of the race from 7:30 a.m. until 8:45 a.m. at the Iroquois Room at the main building at KCC. People can also sign up from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Iroquois Room. The same location Saturday offers runners and walkers a chance to pick up their race packets in advance.

Tarabichi is looking forward to the event and to meeting those working to raise money for arthritis. It is a good cause, he said. The good news about arthritis, he said, is that while it is painful, it is not life threatening. In his practice, he gives patients a wide range of informed options, so they can make their best choices.

When a physician meets a patient, he says he is meeting someone at one of their most vulnerable moments.

“I do not take this lightly,” Tarabichi said.

He was, literally, born to be a physician. His father is an ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor. Tarabichi also has several uncles and cousins who are physicians. He also got a bit of added motivation to become a doctor when he tore his ACL playing soccer at age 17.

“I never saw being an orthopedist as a job,” he said. “This is a vocation.”

Tarabichi was born in Kenosha, Wis., but his father as recruited to be a physician in Dubai, so he spent his youth there. But after graduation from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland at Adliya, Bahrain, he did research on joint replacement and outcomes in Philadelphia.

Then he did his residency at the University of Chicago Department of Orthopedic Surgery. While in Chicago he met up with lots of extended family. After specialty training in hip and knee replacement in San Francisco, he really wanted to come back to Chicago.

Tarabichi has won multiple awards for his research, including the John Insall and Otto Aufranc awards, two of the highest honors in the field of adult reconstruction.

He became a close colleague of Dr. Rajeev Puri, an OAK physician and that was part of the impetus to come here.

Tarabichi enjoys the collegiality at OAK.

“Everyone is here to help,” he said, and everyone is hardworking.

Tarabichi takes a comprehensive approach to diagnosis and management of hip and knee pain, incorporating the latest advances in pain management, surgical reconstruction and recovery, including the direct anterior approach to total hip replacement, partial knee replacement and revision therapy.

Tarabichi is a board-eligible orthopedic surgeon who specializes in adult reconstruction for hip and knee arthritis. He is a member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons.

While arthritis is largely genetic, people can lower their risk by getting fit and staying active. Each extra pound of bodyweight, he said, is like four extra pounds on a knee. The risks of exercising, he adds, are far, far less than the risks of being sedentary.

He is a fan of the Peloton exercise bicycle, gets to the gym when he can and walks and hikes on the weekend with his wife, Zaina.

The Jingle Bell Run is the only local fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation. The race is staffed by volunteers, and all supplies are donated by local businesses, meaning that nearly 100% of all fees and donations go to the charity. There are cash prizes for the schools that bring the most participants and volunteers.

All participants get a long-sleeved shirt. All finishers get a medal. They are age group awards for runners and walkers and prizes for the top fund-raising individuals and teams.

Santa will be on hand for photos. There will also be an Ugly Christmas Sweater contest and a costume contest.

This year’s local sponsors: OAK Orthopedics, a division of Illinois Bone & Joint Institute; Riverside Orthopedic Specialists; A.N. Webber Inc. Logistics; the Kankakee County Sheriff’s Department; CSL Behring and Kankakee Nursery.

Donated refreshments will include pizza from Chicago Dough, hot chocolate from Oberweis, soup from the Bennett-Curtis House, Gatorade from Pepsi, water from Culligan and fruit from Jewel.

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