The Winkle family tends to grow very old but with arthritis so bad their joints curl up and in. I started to go through that five years ago and now it's really bad in my hands.
I gave up seed bags a few years ago and now I can barely carry and open up a bag of wood pellets for the Countryside stove. They ache all the time, especially when I bend them. I have tried what I thought was every cure and sidekick known to man but it really hasn't stopped the degradation.
At my annual physical, my good doctor said Ed you have good vitals for a man your age but you have worn out nearly every joint in your body. I think he has said that the last five physicals. He understands I am a farmer and have burned the candle at both ends for nearly 64 years. That wouldn't be so bad if I didn't inherit such extreme arthritis.
I don't like Celebrex or those kind of drugs because they make my heart do flip flops and I am not comfortable with that. I would rather have the pain, so I have the pain. Naproxen Sodium works pretty well so maybe you will see me in an Aleve commercial soon. I doubt that.
I don't want to quit farming or blogging or anything I am doing right now. My hands hurt so much I have to wonder how much I can take. I think they are going to hurt anyhow so I keep plugging along. I have an appointment to see a hand surgeon on the 22nd so maybe I will get some more ideas.
If my sports doctor could inject some cortisone in my bad joints, maybe I can keep going like I have been. I haven't been there to see him yet. My right arm has went to sleep during sleep and sometimes the pain is so bad when I wake up I want to cry.
Do you have osteo arthritis? I don't test positive for rheumatoid but my symptoms are similar.
I haven't met many people who suffer from this worse than I do unless they are 80 years old so I don't think I am a whiner.
I just don't want to quit.
Ed Winkle
I can sympathize somewhat. No real pain but the cold makes my hands so stiff that they are almost useless for a while. Back, hip and knee pain is a daily thing with good days and bad. Like my grandfather used to say, "don't get old". He was in his 80s when he said this and lived to 95.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are going throught too. I am older but after two accidents and surgery it is my legs. I was just reading some family history in my collection and the '(family name)knee' problems go back several generations. We don't pay enough attention to genetics maybe. Hope you find relief.
ReplyDeleteHere's something to think about, but the cure might be as bad as the disease: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=50602
ReplyDeleteOuch, osteoarthritis sucks schmucks.
ReplyDeleteWould food rich in cartilage and collagen help? It does more than just make a great stock.
Get a couple of pig trotters from your butcher and follow this recipe:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sPLKtV5o1Grm5uAgHyi_N-YqEDM2YhzqTl2rstKq3jk/edit?usp=sharing
Sells in France for $16-22 the pair, fresh or preserved in a glass jar.
Heck, get a whole pig head, it is so rich in collagen that head cheese makes its own jelly.
Connective tissue also holds lots of collagen, like beef chuck.
The key for these foods is to cook them at low simmering temperatures for long, so the collagen does not harden but melts in your mouth. These beef stews are excellent with vegetables such as cabbages or leaks. And it's rather lean too, it's easy to remove the small layer of fat from the surface.
Get beef bones from your butcher and cook them with a bit of cider or white wine vinegar so they can release all their minerals and nutrients. The best traditional stock is made from roasting the bones in the oven first, it develops great flavors.
Chicken stock or fish stock with fish heads, tails and bones are rich in collagen too.
Guess what animal food the Chinese with their thousands of years of health knowledge import from the US?: Chicken feet! That was my grandfather's favorite when we were having roast chicken, he had the boiled chicken feet, and my granny had the roasted empty carcass.
I love you all, I sincerely do.I admire you folks more than you can ever imagine.
ReplyDeleteI have tried everything listed, I keep searching but thank you for your thoughts and suggestions.
Anonymous, so thankful it moved from my legs to my hands. My legs are everything, now seeing my hands are too.
Thanks,
Ed Winkle
I was thinking of you this morning when I went to the Chiropractor in another attempt to get my back to stop hurting. It has been a while since I gave up on him the last time and he had a whole series of questions about when it hurts and what I do about it. I told him it feels a lot better when I'm working and when it really hurts is when I lay down or sit too long. He pointed out how ironic that is for someone who claims to be lazy.
ReplyDeleteWhich is nothing compared to your fingers but a fellow should get a good laugh now and then.
I mean, the name of my blog is The Lazy Farmer, but yet I can't actually sleep half the day because my back hurts so bad I have to get up and split some wood...
"My back hurts so bad I have to get up and split some wood!"
ReplyDeleteNow that is a quotable quote, you made me smile.
You know how many times I have actually gotten up to go split some wood because something hurt so much I couldn't sit still?
LOL,
Ed