The Girl With Arthritis

This is part two of two connecting posts for a reader. The first section was all about diet changes to manage inflammation ( Diet to Manage Juvenile Arthritis ). This part is about exercise. When you have arthritis, it's easy to fall into the trap of not exercising. It's not purposeful, it just hurts to move around sometimes. Though pushing your limits is not recommended at all, it's important to try and keep active. Keeping active will help you keep your joints from becoming too stiff and keeping them strong. You may be sent to physiotherapy (physical therapy) to assist, and this is the person who should help you the most in your work out planning. Your doctor would be another good person to consult with. And most importantly, listen to your body. Stretching is good. Some people have found good results in yoga. Yoga can be very good for a person with arthritis but it can be hard to tell what our bodies can handle. As a person who couldn't handle yoga, I recommend t...

Let's face it, arthritis isn't a great thing. But there are things I like to call 'Arthritis Perks.' These are nice things that happened because I have arthritis. They definitely don't make up for having to deal with Arthur, but they certainly make things more tolerable- which is why they're 'perks' and not 'advantages.' Even though I did have a horrendous time with some gym teachers, there were some great ones. They let me participate as I could, and sometimes they'd come right up and say 'Elizabeth, you don't have to do this.' And I was alright with that! A few times when I was in swimming class, we had to swim laps across the pool. After each lap, you had to get out and do ten push ups and ten sit ups. The teachers just let me swim a little, and I was fine with that. Honestly, I had a hard getting out of the pool when I got tired, sit-ups were always painful unless I was on a soft surface and push-ups just aren't possib...

I'm super sensitive to cold. Air conditioning quickly gets extreme for me, pools and water can be torturous and in winter, I'm always bundled up.  I have a hard time trying to explain why I don't like going swimming to others. They think I'm lazy or something, but it's honestly a struggle to build up the courage. I truly want to be able to get in the water and swim, but it's very painful. They don't understand, "yeah, it's cold to me too." So, I started to say it differently now. "It's like brain freeze in my bones." Literally. It's painful and deep ache to be cold. It tends to get the point across, but people are very insistent of course. I love when swimming pools are heated so I can enjoy the water but otherwise it's completely unpleasant. Never force yourself into a cold pool. Never let anyone force you. Don't listen to them; you shouldn't have to put up with pain for their enjoyment. If it were them in pai...

I'm a very bad patient. I take all my medicines on time (most of the time). I go to my appointments. I eat rather healthy and keep my weight healthy. But I don't do physical therapy. Even though the doctor wants me to so much. I've had a long history of physical therapy. Years and years of it. It never really showed any results. I've found that working out on my own has been the most effective for me personally: swimming, walking and biking has been the best for me. At physical therapy, I was stretched out and did a lot of exercises that stretched and world muscles I didn't know I have. But, mostly it did not help because they were not muscles that I needed in everyday life. By working out by myself, I'm able to strengthen muscles I use and need. For example, stairs are a problem and by working on machines that mimic stairs (with less strain that normal stairs), I'm beginning to find I'm slowly having an easier time. For some, Physical therapy is...

Christmas is nearly here! Usually it's a very stressful time. This year I planned ahead of what needs to be done. Granted, I've been pacing myself pretty well and keeping Arthur at peace with Enbrel, but it's none the less still very stressful. It's not so much the holiday stress getting to me, it's more of stress at school. I know teachers have to do their job and all, but the mountains of homework aren't exactly making this an enjoyable time. Luckily I'm about done with school so I can focus on being happy with my family and friends soon. Some of my friends and I are actually having a Christmas party in the coming days and I'm very excited for that. But of course I've been facing a bit of physical stress. I still have to swim a few days in school and on top of the classes before and after, my body has taken quite a toll. The other day after swimming about seven laps, I thought I was okay. My heart rate is still quite high and I've been nervous...

When boys and girls are little, we can't seem to get them out of a swimming pool. Once their older, it seems we can't get them in a swimming pool. In school, I have to take swimming class. Unfortunately. In my first year of swimming almost everyone participated. Now, after several years, most everyone dreads it. Today, in a class of twenty kids (nine girls, eleven boys), only six kids (including me) swam (two girls, four boys). It's been worse. Once I was the only girl with four boys. But that's besides the fact. Kids won't do swimming class because they don't want to. I can understand, the reasons being: 1. Your hair feels gross and is wet for the rest of the day. 2. The swimming is intense. 3. They don't give us enough time to get ready for our next class. Among other things of course. I do swimming regardless, I've only missed one class of all my years of swimming due to feeling extremely ill that day. I've gotten very use to having to push thr...

A bit of an update about the  cold water thing. I don't think people understand the severity of it, as demonstrated to me not long ago. A while ago I went into extremely cold water with some friends and they couldn't understand how the water was that bad until I explained it as such: It felt as though all the muscles and my skin in my feet were ripped apart and bleeding. My ankles felt as if they had just been bent backword. All the bones in my feet and ankles felt chilled and frozen down deep into the marrow, like my bones were replaced with ice completely. My shins were numbed and painful. It felt as though I had fell on my knees and scrapped, bruised and turned in more than usual. I won't go on with more details, but I hope you see how painful it is on top of dealing with the temperature.

In a lot of ways, I have been really stressed lately. In a lot of ways, I have been really amazed at how wonderful life is. Like in swimming, instead of doing laps lately we have been playing games, particularly basketball. It's nice because rather than the girls standing around doing nothing and the boys acting as though it were the Olympics, everyone participates and enjoys themselves. Okay, the boys still act like they are playing in the Olympics but they're a bit gentler. I've been having a grand time since there is no running and I can really get into the game. But what really makes my day is when the kids say "Elizabeth, pass it here!" For one, they acknowledge I'm alive. But two they know me as Elizabeth and not Liz anymore: I'm so thrilled. It's things like that that really make the difference. I like swimming class unlike a lot of girls in my class: My hair looks great afterward and it's refreshing unless the teacher makes you do laps. ...

Let's get straight to the point: I am aching so badly. My back hurts so much today. I'm unsure if I'm just sore and tired or if I'm getting sick. I had to do swimming class in school today and it took a lot out of me. I actually took a nap which I do not do unless I'm very ill. That's all for today.