More Arthritic Adventures

By 4pm yesterday I knew I had over done it.  I didn't do any extreme physical activity like snowshoe 4km or take the boot camp activity at the local school.  What I did was not pay any attention to what my body was telling me and that was take it easy, slow down and rest.

I knew I was in trouble the Friday before when my grandson was playing in an out of town tournament.  Early mornings (5am) and late evenings (10pm) over the entire weekend contributed to my slow demise on Monday evening.  I worked a full day and had not thought about the extra class that evening nor did I plan ahead for supper so it was a rush trip to the grocery store, a mad race home whipped up a quick meal and it was time to go back to work. 

By 9pm the pain was becoming unbearable.  I couldn't sleep in my bed so I made myself comfortable on the couch, this wasn't working either so I logged into facebook and tried to other wise occupy my mind by reading what my friends were up to...this usually helps me to relax enough to go to sleep but it didn't work so I shut the computer down at 11pm and tossed and turned until 2:30am when I finally fell asleep, I woke several times through out the night with pain by the time my alarm went off it felt like I had not gotten any sleep at all.

I moved slowly as I prepared for my day (this was a 30 minute day) and took some time to post on facebook that if I were to race a turtle today the turtle would win....and it would! I wished everyone a good day because I was going to have one regardless of the pain I was feeling.  A past co-worker posted that foods may trigger these flare ups and that I should start lifting weights. I've done all the food trigger tests, and have been advised by a Rheumatologist not to lift weights because it could do more damage than good during a flare up.  This brought me to what has been on my mind alot lately of how to explain my pain to my students, a few of them think its a "getting old" symptom or it only happens to old people.  I've been trying to explain to them that RA is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system goes a little nuts and attacks the healthy tissue in the body.  When I think about a lot of people look at me and think there is nothing wrong with me  I move, I try to be active yet some still think the pain must be all in my head.  Close friends and family members know how painful RA and Fibro can be.  They've seen me cry because the pain is so intense.  They've seen me have to get needles in my ankles and toes just so I can walk.  I have this disease and I know that I need to listen to my body so that I can take preventative measures to avoid the worst pain.  Yet at the same time I am not going to stop living my life and do the things I dream of doing like the Iceland Trek.  I may be the last one in the group or I may be the first one all I know is that I have challenged myself to raise the 8 thousand dollars for arthritis research so that someday there will be a cure or a better life for those with arthritis.

Have an awesome day ya'll!

Clara

Fundraising for JIM

Since registering for the Joints in Motion Training Team I have been desperately trying to think of ways to fundraise the 8 thousand dollars I committed to raise for the Arthritis Society. 

I decided to hold a pie sale and kill two birds with one stone as the saying goes.  My students had been talking about how their grandmother's and mother's made pies but they had never learned how....always being the teacher I decided this would be a great independence learning experience for them and it would fullfill our community service for a funding application we were completing for gym memberships.

The students learned how to make pie dough, roll the dough, and flute the edges.  They learned how to make pie filling from scratch and bake it to a beautiful golden brown.  By the end of the lesson we had 31 delicious pies.

People called in reserving pies but I was still a bit worried they would not go.  Thankfully word got out and the pies all sold out.  One customer commented "are you going to do this every week?  If you are let me know and I will order again."

We sold the pies for $10 each...you do the math.  Todate I have raised $460.00  only $7540.00 to go!  If you want to keep up with the totals I will be placing my fundraising address soon.

Good night ya'll!

Arthritis Society Joints In Motion (JIM)

Keep moving

The mission of the Arthritis Society is to provide leadership and funding for research, advocacy and solutions to improve the quality of life for Canadians affected by arthritis. 

The Joints in Motion Training team is designed to raise funds to find a cure for arthritis; a disease that affects over 4 million Canadians of all ages.  To date, over 5000 Joints In Motions participants have raised over $30 million in support of The Arthritis Society http://www.arthritis.ca/jim/introduction/default.asp?s=1

As I previously stated, I have RA and Fibromyalgia.  My sister also has arthritis as do my parents and other relations.  Not long ago I was put on a medicaiton that was not covered by OHIP or Indian Affairs.  I did not have health coverage through my work and the medication was quite expensive.  I paid for it 7 pills at a time because that was what I could afford but there were times when I had to skip doses just to make sure I had enough to keep going.  I've heard of others who have never filled their prescriptions because it was not covered and they didn't have the money to pay for the medication.  This was one of the reasons why I decided to join the Joints in Motion Training Team.

I will be training to participate in the Iceland Trek this July.  To participate I must raise $8000.00.  All of the money I raise goes directly to supporting Arthritis research and programs to help Canadian's living with Arthritis.

I hope you will follow along on my journey as I prepare and train for this once in a lifetime opportunity.  At some point I will have a thermometer on this blog so you can see how much I have raised to date.  As of today I have raised $150.00 only $7850.00!

Arthritic Adventures

Having arthritis is not fun!  I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) about 6 years ago.  Since then I have also been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia.  Each of these diseases have had a significant impact on how I live my life.  I can no longer just jump out of bed and start my day.  On a good day it may take only 5 to 10 minutes to work out the stiffness in my hands and joints.  On a bad day it can take in excess of 30 minutes and I may have to ask my daughter to help me dress. (not a very good feeling at all)

Its funny, well no it isn't but there are so many things that we as human beings take for granted.  Take for instance holding a coffee cup or pop can if your fingers are swollen and sore you will need to use two hands to hold that cup or can.  Round door knobs are my enemy as are jar lids.  My students wonder why I am always sore or why I am sick, its because I am taking medication that alters my immune system and makes me susceptible to other illnesses.

The Arthritis Society has been a big help in helping understand this disease and how I can make positive changes to my life.  Last year I registered for the Joints in Motion Dublin 1/2 Marathon.  I wasn't able to make the fundraising deadline so I was able to transfrer my commitment.  I will tell you more about that in another post.  For now please take some time to read this article it will help you to understand RA and why its called one of the invisible diseases.

http://voices.yahoo.com/rheumatoid-arthritis-lupus-fibromyalgia-invisible-7492300.html