hello.....

barney18

This is all new to me...only joined this evening. I don't have arthritis but I have family members that do....I would love to do something to help with this great charity....

barney18

x

tjt6768

Hi Barney, that's a great attitude from a non-arthurite )

Cheers and welcome to the forum, think you are the 1st non that I have come across, lol.. Looking forward to seeing you posting as an 'observer from the outside' (not meant in a condisending way if you know what I mean)

barney18

Thank you Tony....

My reason for looking at this website was due to the fact my Dad recently died (5yrs ago) and unbeknown to me, he had put 'Arthritis Care' in his will as beneficiary of any donations made in his memory - I wasn't aware of this and nor was anyone else until after his funeral. His Mother suffered dreadfully with arthritis. I am now trying to find out more about this charity and to see if I can volunteer in anyway...:)

barney18

...and can I just say, I know how extremely lucky and fortunate to not have arthritis myself...I work as a carer and see, on a regular basis, those that do and see how extremely painful the condition can be - in the young and old.

dreamdaisy

I wish you well in your endeavours. There is a great deal of incomprehension about these devastating conditions amongst the healthy, the more awareness you can spread the better. I didn't have a clue about it until I began to be affected by it. It's got a good hold on me now, c'est la vie. Good luck, young man and I hope it stays away from you. DD

barney18

Thank you DD...I am just trying to find out who my local group is and to see if I can volunteer/help in anyway....I know very little about arthritis other than the pain I see people in suffering with it...I know that my grandmother suffered with it quite severely - she was a very good shorthand typist in her day (she died in the late 60s) and was so badly affected by it that her hands became extremely deformed and, apparently, she suffered with it for many years prior to her death. Such a shame for such a clever lady.

Oh and by the way I'm not a guy! I'm actually in my 40s and a female! Helen.

dreamdaisy

Sorry! The name barney threw me! My most sincere aplogies. Right, I am off now to wreck my joints in tidying up and cleaning my 'office' - my MIL sleeps in here over Christmas and it it is a bombsite. DD

barney18

Thats ok DD!!

How long have you had arthritis for? Is it in all joints? I can't imagine being in pain all the time....do you have some medication that helps? My Mum, who is in her 70s, has it in her hands and hips but she is still able to do all she wants with the help of the usual pain relief you can buy. Still sad to see her hands change shape tho and even writing with a pen is proving quite impossible at times...a lot depends on the weather tho - if its a wet damp day she seems to suffer more with her hands. My Dad had it in his hands too, for a few years, before he died - he was a man who was very clever with his hands - played the organ/piano, his work was very intricate electrical work and about a year before he died he had to give up both because, as he would say, 'my hands don't want to work anymore'. Very sad.

dreamdaisy

My version of arthritis started in April 1997, when my left knee began to swell. Treatment with sulphasalazine began in January 2002, that was when the medicos began taking the problem seriously, by which time my knee was 27" in circumference!). My right knee joined in in October 03 and since then it's been a gentle slide downhill: it was diagnosed as psoriatic arthritis in 2006 I now have 35 affected joints and am in continual pain. I am not that much troubled by the psoriasis side of things, which is good. I am on a shed load of meds which are sort-of doing something, but not doing what I want 'cos what I want don't exist! One of the biggest problems us with an immune-system based arthritis face is that we do not all respond in the same way to the same meds: some on here are having wonderful results on just methotrexate, others are having good results on a combination of drugs, and some like me are just grateful for the pathetic amount of relief we get from the junk we inject and swallow. (I am feeling grouchy, I have just had a bash at some serious cleaning and stuff is twanging!) Those with OA face a different set of difficulties: there are no drugs as such to help tho some take anti-inflammatories to help with the pain. It is a complex area, the helpline have all sorts of info they could send to you if you want more background - give 'em a ring! Right, I have to go off and do some more - I am on a slow-release 100mg morphine tablet for pain relief, that does help matters: I have had a rest, back to the hoovering! DD

barney18

DD...can I be rude and ask how old you are? B.

dreamdaisy

Calendar age 51. Physically-feeling age, about 130. Mental age? About 6, possibly closer to 7.

barney18

51? Crikey, no age at all....I'm 43...and clearly very lucky indeed to not be suffering with this....B.

tjt6768

barney18 wrote:

Thank you Tony....

My reason for looking at this website was due to the fact my Dad recently died (5yrs ago) and unbeknown to me, he had put 'Arthritis Care' in his will as beneficiary of any donations made in his memory - I wasn't aware of this and nor was anyone else until after his funeral. His Mother suffered dreadfully with arthritis. I am now trying to find out more about this charity and to see if I can volunteer in anyway...:)

Well it is a very nice thing you are doing Barney, and I am sure I won't be alone in saying thanks.. )
Hoping you have a great Christmas and New Year...
See you on the forum hopefully.. P.S, I got it in my hands now too, ain't much fun! Lol

frogmorton

Hi barney

Good to meet you too )

Hopefully you can pick up some tips for yor family members from us lot and encourage them on here if you think they woudl benefit?

Love

toni xx