today at curves | Arthritis Information

no joke! today at curves while i was trying to move there were 2 women there talking. 1 was complaining about the pain in her finger! and the other about the pain in her toe. and the doctors they had seen about these terrible problems... blah, blah, blah. and how terrible the cortisone shot was blah, blah, blah.

Honestly it was all i could do to keep my mouth shut!!!!

The problems some women have. oh my!

Yeah...

We have next door neighbors who do not keep their yard kept up. FIL & Grandpa fuss about how their yard looks all the time and all. I tried to explain to them that the guy cannot do the yard work because he has really bad back problems. I have talked to the guy, and he experiences a lot of pain.

To me to say that the guy needs to go out and mow the grass when he has really bad back problems and is in pain all day long, is just rude!

I mean your back is everything. When your back has a lot of pain, the rest of your body might as well be considered useless.

I guess it only bothers me, because I know what chronic pain feels like. And for people who do not have chronic pain, to say someone else that does should keep their yard looking well kept, when the man works 12 hour shifts and sleeps all day and does the best he can to take care of his family, just errks me.

[QUOTE=wonderwoman]no joke! today at curves while i was trying to move there were 2 women there talking. 1 was complaining about the pain in her finger! and the other about the pain in her toe. and the doctors they had seen about these terrible problems... blah, blah, blah. and how terrible the cortisone shot was blah, blah, blah.

Phats

[QUOTE=JasmineRain] [QUOTE=wonderwoman]no joke! today at curves while i was trying to move there were 2 women there talking. 1 was complaining about the pain in her finger! and the other about the pain in her toe. and the doctors they had seen about these terrible problems... blah, blah, blah. and how terrible the cortisone shot was blah, blah, blah.

Honestly it was all i could do to keep my mouth shut!!!!

The problems some women have. oh my!

[/QUOTE]

This may piss some people off, but...

Come on! an RA patient bitching about someone else having the nerve to complain about aches and pains!

I have had terrible finger pain - I sprained the ring finger on my left hand (I'm left-handed). I had to wear a splint for over a month. I had to have steroid injections. I have the option of surgery to repair the ligaments if it gets to the point when I just can't take it any more. It STILL hurts from time to time, if I twist it the wrong way or do too much. When it flares up, it hurts to grip a Coke can. And picking up a coffee cup by the handle - forget it! Typing is quite painful, as is picking up computers, assembling parts, etc... all things I do at work all day. And cooking dinner - yikes!

And don't even get me started on toe pain...

I guess I'm a baby too.
[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=joonie]Yeah...

To me to say that the guy needs to go out and mow the grass when he has really bad back problems and is in pain all day long, is just rude!

I mean your back is everything. When your back has a lot of pain, the rest of your body might as well be considered useless.

[/QUOTE]

The next time they complain about him why don't you explain what you just did to them, and suggest that the Christian thing to do would be to go over and help him get his yard cleaned up! I know they never will, but it might shut them up!

Here's one of my favorite sayings...

Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

CathyMarie

Wow.. WW, I think you were just noticing something that momentarily irritated you. And keep in mind that many of us got our firt Dx from as simple a start as pain in our thumbs.. (me) god my thumbs hurt back then.

pain is pain, and it is personal. What that woman was complaining about TO HER was significant and worthy of treatment and attention. You or I might have blown it off, OR ended up in the darn ER..

One of the hardest things to get doctors to recognize is that pain, whatever kind of pain belongs to the person experiencing it, and it is seriously a quality of life issue.

All that said, and trying to gently help you see our point I gotta say I want to kick dh through the wall when he tells me how much his whatever hurts.. because he wont do anything about it.... men.

kathy_in_wlsv2009-03-08 12:08:27NOOOOOOOoooooo, Jas! Not be able to hold the coke can...... [QUOTE=waddie]NOOOOOOOoooooo, Jas! Not be able to hold the coke can...... [/QUOTE]

I'm one of those who can nimbly get out of my van at the handicapped slot and suddenly have my whole freeking body give way before I get to the door.. Toes, ankles, knees hips.. shortness of breath.... arrythmias..

other times I make it in fine, but by the time I am done at the checkout I am shaking violently, gasping for breath, sweating (thats just from looking at the final total...lol) and completely unable to walk the cart to my car. I ned help I need an assistant to push my cart with the kidlet, while I grab an empty cart to support myself. Then I spend at least 15-20 minutes recovering in the car while other people who need the slot are beeping at me to get out of the way....just drive already.. sheeesh.. maybe their finger hurts.

There are days when I dont even consider using a handicapped slot.. there are other days when I wish it was inside the store.

Haven't drunk an actual Coke or pepsi in at least 25 years..

[/QUOTE]I hope and pray I never become diabetic. Diet Coke just isn't the same.[/QUOTE]

As an official representative of the League of Diet Coke Addicts, I'm asking you Jasmine, what are you afraid of? Join us Jas..c'mon..don't be scared. Diet coke is yummy, you'll see.. Just because the can is grey doesn't mean its the official soft drink of zombies... Dang it! I just screwed up the whole 'quote' thingy. I was trying to quote a post from Jasmine. Now I'll never be able to convince her that diet coke will make her smarter!i am sorry i started this thread. i was just put out with 45 minutes of chatter about their finger and toe. and yes my fingers and toes HURT! i never would talk about someones house or yard as a matter of fact i remind people constantly you do not know what those people are going through. even people who are heavy everyone says they just need to exercise and i have to remind them maybe they cannot exercise that is why they are large. i know these 2 women from seeing them there many times before and trust me they are fine and dressed to the nines and they are well, very healthy. i guess that is why it pissed me off so much. sorry if i offended anyone.No, offense taken. I understood what you were saying. My FIL does says stuff like that to me all the time. Like Oh my knee hurts. I know he is just trying to make me feel better, but I do not care to hear of his pains. I do not bother him with my pains.

I have decided that when people ask me how I am doing. Instead of me saying my usual "Iam ok".... I am going to say "I am wonderful". No matter how bad off I am that day. I decided, if I say that... it will kinda be like a slap in the face for them, and they will all stop asking a question that is obvious just by looking at me.

[QUOTE=SnowOwl]I've wondered at times about people who park in handicapped spots then hop out nimbly and skip towards the store, but there are conditions like MS that can have an apparently nimble person crawling on her hands and knees by the time she gets to the store if she has to park far out from the entrance and make her way across steaming blacktop in hot weather. [/QUOTE]

That is why I refuse to ask my RD for a placard. Because I do not want people to think I do not need it.

Let me tell ya a story. The other day when I went to wal-mart to drop off my RX my hubby dropped me off at the doors. I walked the the pharmacy and was there in no time. Every other time I walk to the pharmacy it feels like I am never going to get there. This is from me walking from the parking lot, from a parking space that can be considered a handicap spot. This time when hubby dropped me off at the door, I thought they moved the pharmacy closer to the door, because I was there and did not even look at the bench and think I want to sit down. I was not doing any better RA wise, actually my hip was painful.

By the time I walked back to the doors and stood there waiting for hubby to circle back around, I was looking for the bench. But he came and I sat in the car.

and let us not forget heart patients, those with breathing difficulties and others who "appear" able-bodied. I try never to second guess people's reasons for using handicapped spaces. I did have friends that used their deceased mother's handicapped parking do-hickey -- and they were both able-bodied. That did tend to tick me off. I do have a disabled parking card and I do use it all the time whether im having a good day or bad. I can feel great going into Asda , by the time I have pushed my way past all the people stood in the middle of the aisles chatting and been bashed into by toddlers on the loose or by children with wheels on their shoes or walked the length of the shop looking for one item coz the staff have had a change round AGAIN . I come out feeling like I need a week in hospital BED REST...

WW....I do understand how you feel, I have a sister in law who runs around in high high heel shoes, shopping for hours on end, dancing on tables with her girlfriends at the weekends and complains her back really hurts and I have no idea what shes going through, as my pain could be no where near hers....I just think...yeah ok!!! On the the same topic, I have a friend who has cancer and I would never complain to her but she always says that pain is pain no matter what you have.

I use my disability sticker too, as I am so unpredictable and 99.9% of the time in pain and so tired to even think about walking to the car. Janie. i asked the doctor for the paper work then i never filled it out. i could not bring myself to get a disabled license plate. do you want to know why? PRIDE i do not want to be disabled. i am sad and crazy all rolled into one. i have resigned myself to it now so maybe i should try again. so for now i hobble in pain or do not go.....Yeah, cause that makes sense?

I think all of us have a hard time understanding what it is like to walk in another's shoes. We see it even here, "my disease is worse than your disease, so therefore you don't deserve as much sympathy as I." It's like a pity competition, and it seems to just be human nature.

I wonder why we seldom look around and say "That poor person doesn't know how good I have it. I can tell just by looking at them that my life is better than theirs."

My foot Dr ordered me to use a cane, a scooter in stores, and a handicapped parking placard.

I use them all. I've had RA for 7years but just now have the placard just because of my feet. I have to admit, that although I also have always had such a hard time on my return trip to the car from RA, now, my slow, limping gait and using the cane is so visible, it is a relief to know that everyone who looks, has mentally agreed with my using the close parking space. I only have it for 6months but years ago when my feet were bad, he ended up adding on another 6months because I just seem to heal so slowly. If I do all I'm told, he won't put me in casts to keep me off my feet.... talk about motivation!

CathyMarie