Do any of you still partake in 'dangerous' activities?
I'd love to hear about any of your wild adventures into the high risk end of lifethanks for the morning laughs Nair is my friend lol. I think my most dangerous activity lately is navigating 2 flights of stairs to do the laundry lol. Oh yes, and handling any breakable dishware. One of these days I'm going to have to be rushed to the ER because I cut myself after breaking something washing it and I'm going to need stitches lol. Using scissors to cut my pain patches to fit where I want them is a dangerous activity too. So is trying to get up off the floor after my tremulous hands have dropped all my meds and I have to pick them up so the dogs blood pressure doesn't bottom out and he gets the munchies and cravings from pred lol. Oh yeah...wouldn't want him to get those fiber pills either lol.
Standing on one leg to shave your legs in the shower is risky with no physical challenges.
RA was my excuse to permanatly give up panty hose!!
Seriously though, I found that being overweight and out of shape far more detrimental to my balance than RA was. Its amazing how muh better it is since I lost 70lbs and started working out and have majorly improved the muscle strength in my legs and core. RA puts up barriers for sure but we can do what we can to lower them
living in Australia was my excuse to give up pantyhose permanantly. I'm working on the weight (sort of) with water aerobics and some extra walking. everything helps. I just have to giggle sometimes (or I'd cry) when I get myself into a situation by not thinking things through with my new limitations. I can get into the bath, I can soak in the bath. No way on Gods Green Earth can I get out of the bath.
I live in jersey knit tops and pants (no need for pantyhose). and no ironing. I love the scrunched look that some clothes have today, sort of a hippy look, I have lots of that stuff, its comfortable, no iron and usually has elastic or ties instead of zippers and buttons.
I like the nair idea grammaskittles, and I can just see the dog getting into the meds. And I know my crockery and glasses are going to diminish rapidly if I do the dishes. I have to wash the coffee cups and work and am always scared I will break something. Then again its not like the boss has bought any of them, they are ALL from the drug reps. I stick to the plastic ones.
Sounds good to me, Pammy, i try to wear cotton knits, slacks, elastic waist, but walmart stopped making them! They have a lot of spandex type slacks, that will just make me hotter, but will suck the tummy in!Clipping my toenails is a challenge. You're gonna laugh, but I found I can do this best sitting on the toilet and bending over forward. The toilet is lower to the ground than most chairs or couches, so I don't have to bend over as far, and being seated supports the hips!
Getting into bed is often a sight to behold also. Our bed is pretty high off the ground. On bad days I have to crawl up on it, circle around and then sit down. I look just like our dog, does before he lies down! If I try to sit down and swing my leg up onto the bed, I better have PJ's on my legs so I have something to grab with my hands to lift my leg up and move it like a crane. You wanna talk about looking sexy as you get into bed with your hubby - I'm the hottest thing around! (Oh yeah, that's because of the night sweats)
OH by the way - screw the pantyhose - no one's looking at my legs anyway.
Hi, Kelsays mom!I'm sure you looked very nice, too, Deidre - and you were comfortable. I love the "leg pattern baldness" - you're so funny!
I wish I had a bit of that. And Nair won't work on my legs - only removes about half of the hair - even if I leave it on twice as long as they say to. I can't sit or touch anything while it's on, so there I am with my legs covered with what looks like cake frosting with prickly little hairs sticking out of it, bare naked with no where to go. Oh and dear God the smell. How do you stand it Liz?
I just started using it when I couldn't really shave my legs when I was so sick. Hubby would not shave them for me and there is no way I'm letting a teenager near me with a razor lol. So, since I'm so OCD about hair on my legs and pits, I had to go the Nair way. It works pretty well for me. I leave it on for the 3 minutes and off comes my leg hair. But everyone has different hair types and I have really soft hair for being part Italian. So I think that has something to do with it.
I live in boxer shorts and tshirts and sweats and sweat shirts. When I have to go out like to the doc or to the store I wear jeans and tshirt or sweatshirt or one of the many Packers jerseys that I have. With summer on the way it is cotton boxers and tshirts. I have nice shorts for when I have to go somewhere. I all about comfort.
Has anyone solved the seperating the coffee filters issues? Don't they make coffe pots with a built in filter? Anyone have one? I have to get a new coffee pot this weekend and I'm hoping to eliminate those frustrating paper filters.
I found another dangerous activity quite by hilarious accident today. So...I'm in the basement doing the laundry this morning. I am putting clothes in my dryer and I have to bend over to do that. I lost balance and almost fell head first into my dryer. It is dangerous to dry clothes. Must make teens do it lol.
Hi Grandmaskittles, why don't you try a coffee plunger?? Theyre really easy and need no filters. I have a single cup one and also a 3 cup one fir when I have company. Not expensive either. I had a coffee maker with a built in filter and a hot plate underneath, a 10 cupper, but don't find the use for that one much longer, and its not as hot by the time it's ready. The plunger is very quick and coffee is lovely and hot. Ummm must go and make one right now.
Buttons are my bugbear, but things that pull on over my head are not easy either. I have bought a big supply of small toggle type buttons, I have coloured and wooden ones, and a friend replaces the buttons for me when I get something new. Bigger buttons aren't so bad, mostly those tiny ones as on blouses.
And squeezy bottles like shampoo and conditioner - always really hard to squeeze. So I have two soft bottles that I transfer the stuff into. Then I add some water to the original bottles and thin down what is left - comes out easier and I hate waste!!
Lifting a roast or big casserole out of the oven is a scarey challenge as well.
Have a great day - take care
Oh let's see. Where to start. First of all, with all of the crap I have on my side of the bed (extra pillows, heating pad -plugged in at all times, nightstand, cat, cellphone charger(so I have my phone at night, we dont have a house phone), box of tissues, etc etc - Getting OUT of the bed is tricky....
Showering is an adventure - we used to have sticky sea shells on the bottom of the tub, but they stopped working, so now we have a mat. Yeah. The mat doesn't stick over top of the sea shells. That's a sticom moment waiting to happen.
Brushing my teeth is great, I brush *everything* my lips. My cheeks. My chin. You get the picture.
Q-TIPS ARE DANGEROUS. >.< Nuff said.
Putting on my knee brace on my bad days is a hoot - mainly because I seem to forget that socks have to go on BEFORE the brace. Let's not even go into that one.
Opening ANYTHING with a twist cap. I seem to always just...kinda...twist, and drop. Not sure how that one works, but it does.
Shaving I stay away from, unless its summer. And then I do it the dangerous way. Yes, with one leg proped up, standing on top of my slippery bath mat. If I don't come back to post, you know what happened.
I've been diagnosed less than a month with RA. What makes these activities are dangerous? Is it because of pain or because the joints aren't strong enough to perform the task? Or both?
I'm a mosaic artist & I'm not real clear about what to expect about the progression of this disease. I use my hands alot. During (what I NOW know is a "flare")my internist swaw my "sausage fingers" & right away gave me a sed rate test. When I tell people that I have RA they are very consoling. But on the other hand so many tell me of someone they know who has it.
Yikes!
Rivkahdish, I can't really answer why the referenced tasks are dangerous to some. What I can tell you is that I was diagnosed almost a year ago and have not stopped doing the things I've done my entire life. I stay as active as possible even when I'm not feeling 100%.
After being diagnosed last summer I continued to surf, waterski, wakeboard, run, jumprope, climb mountains, etc. I firmly believe you have to keep your muscles active as part of the fight to beat this disease. I remember the day I was diagnosed the doctor asking me if I spent a lot of time outdoors because he noticed that I was as "brown as a berry". He warned me that the sun and methotrexate don't always mix = I proved to him, and ultimately myself, that it didn't create any problems for me. I proved this by simply continuing to do the things that I love to do. I could have easily become hesitant about the possible side effects and stopped doing my favorite activities just because he told me there was a real possibility it would cause a problem. Anyway, don't stop doing the things you love based on another's experience or just the possibility that it could cause a reaction. Keep positive.
Rivkahdish,
Our reference to "dangerous" activities is halfway a joke. Poking fun at how clumsy we can be, or how our swollen, uncooperative limbs can get in our way, or make our day.......interesting. :) We are not sad about it. It's silly to us, and something that we joke about on here, because no one else on earth would understand it, except someone who deals with it everday.
There are many people who cannot do all of the things they love anymore. And there are many people who can. RA is a very individual disease. - And yet you will find that we all have things in common. That's what this place is for. :) Vent, ask questions, tell us stories, whatever your heart desires!!!
I have sausage fingers too!!
Katie
How we cope.....My friend has MS, yet she shows up to our art group (sometimes not feeling so good), and another disabled person comes every week. Maybe we are special in how we can manage our lives. this forum lets people share a bit of their lives and how this particulare disease 'gets them' or doesn't get them!! I'm impressed with the ideas on the Helpful Hints topic and I hope people will continue to write their favorites (I'm getting to play 'golf' with my husband and son, now. But, not drive the first shot! They drive the ball then I go and drop my ball and hit the shot. then chip or putt out, etc. (my hands won't grab the club so well yet and I don't want to sprain anything! fingers!!) We cope, hurts less.I second what Katie said, I did start this thread as a lighthearted look at some of the things some of us now find a bit more difficult than we used to.
I've had a good giggle at some of the situations. That is what it was meant for, a bit of fun.
Sorry to contradict you ari33 but I don't really think you PROVED anything to yourself or your doctor by continuing to mix the sun and Methotrexate. Methotrexate makes you more susceptable to sun damage and therefore skin cancers. You may have not 'felt' that there was any difference last summer, but ultimately you have put your future health at risk due to your pride. It would be foolish of you to continue to do so. Even with the use of sunblocks you have to vigilant with reapplying and keeping covered up. That's not to say 'don't go out in the sun', but just to be VERY careful. Here in Australia we are actually advised to stay out of the sun between 10 and 2 due to the strenght of the sun and the high incidence of melanoma. I think that advice is something that should be followed, especially when on methotrexate.
wheres joonie and her story about how a walking sidewalk ate her? OMG i thought of her and was VERY careful when i was in the airport in DC making sure i didnt get eaten alive maybe the MTX is why I can Nair and Karen can't lol. I have bald patches on my legs where hair doesn't grow anymore lol. This thread was great for a giggle and looking at how silly we get when we try to do everyday things that most other people take for granted. OMG we need humor, well at least I need humor or I will go legally nuts! LOL! Thanks for the coffee filter idea. I even have that sticky blue stuff for posters around the house so there are no nail marks to spackle when I move lol.Riv...relax. This is not a death sentence. Everyone progresses at his or her rate. I have had RA for ohhhh lemme see 12-13 years now and I am just now fighting my fingers to do what I want them to do and fighting my knee to bend and my toes to move again. Bending over lately gives new meaning to uhhhh hunny....help me up please I'm stuck. The earlier you start to care for yourself the longer you MAY be able to put off damage and losing the ability to do things and finding yourself talking to body parts that just don't want to do what you want them to do.
Find humor in everyday life. I read somewhere that laughing is soo good for you that it actually increases life expectancy. And goodness knows RA cuts it. So mebbe we can break even with some humor.
Humour is, afterall, an important part of a positive attitude.Thanks for the laugh - needed one today.
Many of the "dangerous activities" apply to me at some time or another - wear elasticised waisted jeans, slacks and shorts wherever possible; no panyhose; yes, mtx does cut down on shaving but its a pity it is cause for finding an eyelash or eyebrow floating in cup of tea
Newbies might temporarily be freaked out at our wierd sense of humour, but that is what enables us to cope. There are better medicat. available now than 20 or 30 years ago and if you have a good doc and rheumy and they can find the right 'cocktail' of meds for you, hopefully you will manage well. Took me nearly 2 years to come to terms with the fact RA was in my life, but meeting up with others in a forum like this was a great help. and I learned to laugh again
Lorraine
I hear you lorrie, here in Melbourne we are about to go to another stage of water restrictions. A new stage they invented yesterday, 3A. I long for this drought to break. AND this heat!!
Honestly, it must be at least 30 years since I bathed my own two kids together. But these two - I haven't laughed so much for years. Bailey, the 3 year old, sat very nicely at his end of the bath, splatting his hands down hard on the top of the water, of course, splashing water everywhere - and wee Cameron, the baby, seems to think he's a platypus, he just lays right down in the water and goes right under and rolls over, then comes up laughing - again and again. I was trying to keep hold of him cos it was a bit scary at first, and was just going to take him out, but once I saw that this was obviously something he was used to doing - and enjoying, I just joined in the fun, eventually got them washed and out of there.
I forgot that my knees and ankles were hurting when I was kneeling, forgot that my arms and wrists were giving me heaps. I just had lots of fun along with them, and got very wet. After I got them into bed I changed into a pair of my son's trackpants and a tee shirt - even my hair was wet. Then of course I had to go and clean up the bathroom, dinner dishes, and tidying up their toys and things.
I just forgot that I was 61 with RA for that wonderful hour and a half with my 2 beautiful little grandsons. Blissful time.
But all's good - not too bad effects today, and I had a great sleep last night.
So - I sincerely truly hope that in the midst of mourning some of the "dangerous" things we are no longer able to do, or attempt to do, sometime we can all get a shot at just doing "what comes naturally" when it comes right out of the blue like that.
It was wonderful - mind you -I'm a Granny now, and we're supposed to be fun!! That will always be one of my precious moments.
Kiwilass,
You just brightened my day! Oh, how I loved reading about your grandsons. I have a brand spanking new one 7 weeks old! Even though I live on the other side of the country from him, we are getting our house in "prime" selling condition so we can move to Oregon and grow up with him!
I needed to paint my kitchen but it was wallpapered with 12 ft. ceilings and soffits that come out and go back in to create shelves and the whole dang place was wallpapered. So, I thought it would be eaiser to paint it all. It looked horrible. Had to strip everything. After stripping everything, had to prime everything. After priming,I had to paint 2 coats. Now, I just have to add the border. The ONLY reason I can do all this is because I have a goal. To move to my family. My next job is the master bathroom, same thing, huge ceilings every dang space WALLPAPERED except the frickin ceiling. Oh, well. I'm thankful that I can do it. Thanks for the visual of your grandsons in their bath!
Thanks for the enlightenment!
I actually I wasn't freaked out but merely curious about the mechanics of the symptoms.
[QUOTE=pammy416]
I second what Katie said, I did start this thread as a lighthearted look at some of the things some of us now find a bit more difficult than we used to.
I've had a good giggle at some of the situations. That is what it was meant for, a bit of fun.
Sorry to contradict you ari33 but I don't really think you PROVED anything to yourself or your doctor by continuing to mix the sun and Methotrexate. Methotrexate makes you more susceptable to sun damage and therefore skin cancers. You may have not 'felt' that there was any difference last summer, but ultimately you have put your future health at risk due to your pride. It would be foolish of you to continue to do so. Even with the use of sunblocks you have to vigilant with reapplying and keeping covered up. That's not to say 'don't go out in the sun', but just to be VERY careful. Here in Australia we are actually advised to stay out of the sun between 10 and 2 due to the strenght of the sun and the high incidence of melanoma. I think that advice is something that should be followed, especially when on methotrexate.
[/QUOTE] I think you missed the point - I was trying to stress the importance of continuing to live life without worrying about what could be. Statistics say I risk my life everytime I'm in a vehicle, an airplane, the city, etc. I certainly don't choose to never leave my home for fear of dying in a car accident or plane crash. Why in the world would I worry about the effects of mixing sun and methotrexate? I would only be concerned if it suddenly made a notable difference with my skin to which I did have pre diagnose. Must I add that I'm a sunscreen nut and it has nothing to do with the possibility of skin cancer - call this pride if you will - I'm more concerned about wrinkles!!! So, yes, In my mind I proved that RA will have to find a way to fit into my lifestyle. I will not change my lifestyle to accommodate RA.Why in the world would you worry about the effects of mixing sun and MTX?That's my positive attitude, I'm moving into a new phase of my life not desperately hanging on to things that used to define me.
I'm a new, growing person. I like it that way. RA has changed me but thats not a bad thing.
I too have discovered some hidden talents since my RA began to not like me very much. I went so many years with the diagnosis and the occasional weather flare here or there that I didn't have to slow down. This past fall and winter I ran into that proverbial brick wall and was forced to slow down. I still have to take it easy. I am thinking the way I feel now that my meds are kicking in is what my normal is going to be. So once again, I adjust my life and lifestyle to that. No biggie. It's better than not waking up to life at all. RA seems to be a constant motion of adjustments, give and take, and figuring out what do next.
I want as normal of a life as possible. And if that means adjusting to fit what my RA will and won't let me do, then so be it.
for years my husband and I have done outdoors things early, this isn't a problem for us as we love mornings!, we are retired and so can play golf at 6 am, and are home before the high sun damage time. We wear hats, long sleeved shirts, etc. to protect our skin. I've taken MTX for 15 years and still have the sun damage (which I see a doc about yearly), but no major spots. You just need to be careful and do the best you can. The sunshine isn't our friend when it comes to skin. Take care....hurting lessBeing outdoors and the feel of the warm sunshine can sure do wonders for the spirit!Ari33
It occurs to me that there are more important factors than myself to doing whatever I wanna do regardless of RA. I simply can't do the things I used to do before because of a greater risk of death and injury. I worked with abused and problem horses. They take alot of awareness and quick reflexes to escape when they panic or retaliate. I loved doing it. I lived for it. It was extremely rewarding. I would love to do it now. The people that care about me, such as my parents, my brother, and nieces would be crushed should I be killed or injured badly. I admit It was a risky activity in the first place, but now with meds and reduced mobility, I know there is no way I could think or escape fast enough to avoid injury and maybe death in a tough situation. I know it's simply stupid to trust a distressed 1200 lbs "fight or flight" animal at all, especially with slower reflexes and the inability to move very quickly. I value my familys' well being more than I value the rewarding work I have lived for. I love them more that I love my lifestyle. So no, I won't put myself in dangerous situations anymore. It's a choice I made for the people I love. Parents never get over the loss of a child. I won't do it to them, if at all possible.
Jen 101, I agree and of course I may feel differently if it was my passion, but I wouldn't be comfortable going up against a 1200 lb. animal at anytime.
I think most of us who have close family and friends would be sadly missed by those who love us regardless of the circumstances to which we were ultimately taken from this life. I would however add that my predetermined fate will be the ultimate determining power of my demise, not circumstances. The one thing I can leave my family with is the knowledge that I lived a happy and prosperous life. My family, but ultimately my children, will be left with memories of many, many special moments. If I were to ask them even now, I would guess we would have many good laughs about some of the crazy things we do, most of which would include time spent outdoors in the sun and on the water - with sunscreen.
Yep, Predeterminate fate is something I can't fight either. I was thinking any New RA folks out there that don't post, but read, who loved a very dangerous hobby or occupation...maybe they might want to rethink a bit about hopping right back into it... At least talk to thier health care professionals. That's what I am concerned with.. So yep.
Please read Danger of falling! one of my friends 'fell' and broke a hip, that was very bad. So we all need to be careful ......expecially with new aches and pains. My ankles are really hurting and weak today??