The 'Triumphs' thread

dreamdaisy

I think the 'it' is living the best we can through our personal efforts. The docs can't do it for us, the meds can't, the physios, the charlatans and their ilk likewise. I am diseased but feel OK, I am certainly not ill: in pain, yes, but that is not illness as I understand it. Illness to me implies a temporary state, that one will get better, so no longer requiring medication or treatment. That option is not available so surely it is better to make the most of what one has despite its gentle dwindling. DD

Airwave!

Well it’s all over, turkey eaten, sprouts consumed, pressies opened, decorations down and I have moved the furniture and cleaned the carpet!

I haven’t restarted my yoga........ almost a success, nearly a failure!

stickywicket

Mr SW will be going in for a new hip next week. As a result I have been getting things ready and have just ironed three vests for his three night stay. I think this is the first time I have ever ironed a vest :oops:

daffy2

Oh Sticky. Displacement activity or what! I'm sure the hospital didn't put that on the information for patients leaflet - they would be pleased that a) he's got a change of vest and b) they're clean. The triumph would be if MrSW had ironed them himself...
On a more serious note, I imagine you are feeling a tad(!) anxious about next week; I'll be thinking of you both.

phoenixoxo

Vests are excellent. Very best wishes to Mr SW and to Mrs SW too

stickywicket

Thank you, daffy and Phee.

Not so much displacement activity as shame :oops: though this is a new venture for both of us - he the patient and I the carer. My hard work will begin once he's out, keeping him off the golf course :shock: When I start ironing his underpants - displacement activity will be the only possible reason.

phoenixoxo

stickywicket wrote:

When I start ironing his underpants - displacement activity will be the only possible reason.

stellabean

Good luck to Mr SW and to you Sticky in your new role as carer I hope all goes well for the new hip and Mr SW can return to the links.

stickywicket

Thank you

We are already playing competitive grabber stick picking up

phoenixoxo

That reminds me of a game I came up with for Christmas one year. First, players had to answer an easy question. If correct, they proceeded to stage 2, which involved putting on a pink dressing gown, fluffy slippers, and a blindfold, and rushing to the opposite end of my flat to pick up as many chocolates as possible with... you've guessed it... a grabber. The winner was the person who'd picked up the most chocs, but everyone kept their chocs so there were no losers. It was a good game.

Anyway, good luck, whatever you get up to

stickywicket

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and encouragement. He's now arrived at the hospital and I'm home alone, wearing my bag-with-two-phones :roll: The things we parents do to pacify our adult children when we know they have a point but......

I think my triumph of the day has been to get him through the morning, trying to give the impression of utter routine while allaying any fears. My reward is the complete control of the TV remote and the thermostat for 2 days. Yay!

phoenixoxo

Yay indeedy

Enjoy your new accessory

felicityh

Hi all! Just found this thread and love the idea!
My triumph recently has been applying to university to study radiography (I want to go in to musculoskeletal imaging) and receiving offers from every place I applied to. I'm so proud of being able to get to this point as my arthritis started a few years ago during my last years at school. I've had to take a bit longer than most to get to this point but I'm here and so excited to see what this next part of my life brings. I can't wait to be qualified and then be able to help people in the same position as me. xx

crinkly1

Massive congratulations - what an achievement!

I do hope you enjoy the course and stay well throughout it and into a happy and successful working life.

dreamdaisy

I managed 45 minutes with my personal trainer (the first session for over a month) and then prepared a casserole for tomorrow's lunch; a friend is coming for the day as our spouses are off to London for the Dora Maar exhibition followed by a wander round Borough Market. Out on my feet now but feeling pleased with what I have achieved. Tomorrow will be a long day . . . . I am nearly looking forward to it. DD

Ginge88

I got back on the squat rack in the gym and my OA hip didn’t complain. 🙌🏻 Some days it just refuses, but last night felt great. Super proud that I got back up to 70kg quite comfortably. I won’t be able to walk for the rest of the week from the DOMS, but you’ve got to do these things when you can I guess 😂🏋🏻‍♂️

stellabean

At last I have finished cleaning my greenhouse which has taken weeks, but now I have spent last 3 days planting my 230 sweet pea seeds in individual pots and now can't wait for summer I love growing things and seeing them bring pleasure to others. Well tomorrow it is back to seed planting with first of the vegetables.

Suzanara

My hands are very deformed from my RA but I still manage to do crafting, it’s painful but my hands are painful anyway, may as well have fun and take my mind off it for a while. My current crafting obsession is needle felting and I have made quite a few flowers in the last 3 months. I am slow but get there in the end!!

Sharon_K

these are beautiful thank you so much for sharing

Best Wishes

Sharon

Airwave!

Madam has brought me a new hand held cordless vacuum cleaner, I can now clean the house top to bottom on one charge. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so enthusiastic 😂!

The corded cleaner was so heavy and powerful that I couldn’t manage to use it, anyone want to buy a D#£&n ? Haha

crinkly1

It seems a pity not to have all achievements recorded in the same place so I've pulled up this thread again.

Covid-19 has certainly taken its toll of everyone, especially by restricting social contacts and making NHS waiting lists interminable. No wonder so many forum posts are serious pleas for help with just a few 'triumphs' reported above and in other places.

That I'm in a minority for whom lockdown has actually been beneficial makes my particular 'triumph' one that is an unexpected gift rather than solely the outcome of my and my husband's efforts but I'd like to share our good fortune with you at a time when life is difficult and the future more unpredictable than ever.

Last year, and well into our 70s with a heart condition and widespread OA between us, we started making plans to downsize from our 1906 three-storey Buxton town house (with stairlift, ramped access and other appropriate adaptations). To our delight our younger son suggested we move closer to him for what, barring a miracle or a care home, will be the final chapter of our life journey. Thus it became a matter of urgency to complete the move while we were still physically able to do so for ourselves..

Self-isolation conveniently provided the time to focus on a major clear-out and prepare to put our home of 22+ years on the market. I'll gloss over the details and, happily, one tends to 'forget' the grim bits but we would definitely not want to have to do it again!

As pandemic restrictions eased we rapidly found an eager buyer for our present property and within days had our offer accepted on our first choice of bungalow in a village near Durham, where our son and his family live. With a chain is of just three households the solicitors are in process of drawing up contracts and we are 'pace-packing' a manageable 2-3 boxes each per day.

Not really a 'triumph' but a great joy at a time when it would have been easy to slip into the negative mindset that exacerbates all health issues. How good it will be to live without stairs, to plan and create our new garden of raised beds and to be surrounded by the sort of landscape we both love even though our fell-walking days are long past. If all goes to plan we should be in out new abode by mid-October, shaping our home to meet our specific needs although it may take longer for a vaccine to allow us to integrate fully into our new community.

A friend with lifelong RA once told me as she skillfully applied extra blusher to her pale cheeks - "If you are going to be in pain anyway you might as well be doing something enjoyable or challenging!"

The distraction theory certainly triumphs and has been my salvation through months of Covid-19.

Mike1

I suppose it could be counted as a triumph for me as after over 20 months without central heating my new system was finally installed last week so I shall be warm this winter rather than wrapping myself up in blankets, huddled beside a small heater. I live in a social housing bungalow that was classed as sheltered housing when I moved in about 6 years ago but shortly after the housing association (HA) downgraded us and removed the warden, although there is still a sheltered residents group and the HA does attend meetings. Anyway the problem with my heating has been going on for a few years until it gave up the ghost in December 2018, then started the long slog.

The first "engineer" they sent out said that they couldn't get replacement parts as the system was too old; the next engineer said he would order the parts; after nothing for weeks I moaned again so another engineer came - he said that he would order the parts; then an appointment was made to fit the parts - a plumber arrived to fit the parts which had not been delivered and even if they had he would have been unable to fit them as I had an electrical central heating system! When I moaned again the response was that they could not get the parts as my system was too old - heard that before. Eventually they agreed to fit a new system then I heard nothing for weeks; after moaning a contractor came round to plan for the new system; a couple of weeks later a date was agreed for the install; the contractors arrived took one look indoors and said that the HA should have removed the old system first as it was not their job. I then had to chase the HA, after a few weeks their staff came round to remove the old system - deep joy - they arrived, looked in the cupboard and then said they could not take the old kit away as it had asbestos in it; I then had a wait of a few weeks until a survey was done, then a longer wait for the asbestos people to come, they went away without doing anything as the old system had not been disconnected. After another couple of months the old system was removed, then the lockdown hit. Anyway, after 20 months of hassle I now have a new central heating system.

Lilymary

@Mike1 That's appalling. I despair of housing authorities, aglommerations of towering incompetence run by those in a state of perpetual ignorance, apathy and unaccountability. Your property would legally have been deemed "uninhabitable" without such a fundamental feature at heating. This would apply for any type of occupier, but all the more so given your disability. I do hope the new heating system behaves itself from now on. Have they offered any compensation for lack of such a basic amenity for such a long period?

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/housing-standards-rented-accommodation

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2017/si/17/made/en/print

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1985/70/section/11

Mike1

No compensation Lilymary, they gave me 2 electric heaters which I rarely put on due to the cost. Besides, that what jumpers, blankets and gloves are for!

Lilymary

Wow, they are required to provide you with fixed permanent heating, not a couple of electric fires! I admire your stoicism, but boo sucks to your lazy useless incompetent and legally negligent landlords