Living with osteoarthritis

It's been a tough last two,years when my joints starting really bothering me. I didn't really understand what was happening but looks like this all srarted quite a few years ago, in my hands. Walking began to become difficult some five years ago, but it was a very slow process that built up as years went by.
I really believe weather brings on pain, like when it's cold or very humid, I read about studies on this matter and they say it's inconclusive. Well I know my body and I started to keep track on my pain levels and what the weather was doing. So I can tell you that for me, I can tell the difference when the weather changes.
I complained to my family Dr about pain and he suggested ibuprofen 600 mil twice per day, and it seemed to help a bit, for my hands. Then it almost seemed like a sudden pain I was getting in my knees, but only when I walked, sitting or riding my bike put no stress on my knees so it was still a livable sort of pain that I could deal with.
Time went on and it seemed the pain began to get worse, I could no longer grocery shop through the entire store so I'd have to skip a few isles and just get the essentials. I needed a rail to get up any stairs and found out I'd needed to walk one step at a time, thank goodness this is only pain in my right knee.
I look around at people who seem to be having trouble walking and now I understand why and what's happening with their bodies. How horrible it must be to have artheritus all over the body in every joint.
This doesn't happen over night, it gradually grows, at least that's how it happened to me.
Ibuprofen wasn't helping anymore so my Dr suggested I see a orthopedic Dr Callan, who showed me an x-Ray of my knee and the cartilage was wearing down, so a shot of some sort of steroidal cortisone maybe would help fill in the gaps and relieve my pain but It wouldn't last if I'm lucky about 3 months, then at that time is when I could come back for another shot. My first shot was wonderful! It worked fast and helped my pain but walking was still a problem, I continued taking the shots for two years, each time it would last less and less, until this option was no longer helping what so ever.
Another x-Ray showed that all cartilage was gone and I was entirely bone on bone, time for knee replacment.

Sarah and I made it on todays show! WOOT

Happy April

Spring has arrived, at least I'm pretty sure about that. Battle Creek visit, I suppose the pictures can tell the story better than I ever could. So here ya go

It's Winter

Today marks our 40th Anniversary, nothing special happening. I generally forget when the day comes, When January comes then I know it will be soon, but never really  know what date i'am in so if someone doesn't remind me then I forget. Believe it or not Pat is the one who keeps telling me how long we been together, he likes these sort of days n Birthdays. (He at least likes to be acknowleged) I am not much for celebrating anything I guess it was my upbringing. Mom would always have a Birthday cake on our days and if a friend happened to be over we'd invite them to have some cake. My Grand Mother (Niemi) would always ALWAYS send a card to us kids, that's as far as it went and I was very happy with that. I guess this is why I am shocked when these days little kids get a party every year.

Far too cold for our bike rides, I miss doing that pretty bad. So now getting NO exercise what so ever, Shots in my knee haven't been helping very good lately, it's hard just walking through the house, I don't know what I'll do with our up coming vacation *sighs*

My Hands are getting a good work out what with all the crocheting I been doing, I keep trying to make the perfect hat, it's time for me to yarn bomb all these *Failed hats again* but it's so darn cold I can't even poke my head out the door to get the mail off the porch.

Alicia * EXIT STAGE RIGHT*

oops, this video has my entire play list sorry bout that, but then you can stop it any time it's 100 videos I think lol maybe i'll go back some day and fix that.
Alicia makes the perfect Fouetté: A whipping movement on one leg while changing the hip and upper body direction

Jump rope

Some things I did this summer

This is my brother Jan's garden, he tells me to go ahead and pick what I want and boy does he ever have some tomatoes, but still green when I visited last and only got 3 

 Here he is picking a bunch of celery, I have never really seen a back yard garden with celery, I felt pretty proud of his accomplishment

 Green beans grew out of control, so I picked tons of them.

 The lovely sunset on the day of our block party, weather turned out really great

 Remember Seth? Our little tv commercial star here holding Ashlynn at the big 0 party
Candy girl turned 10, Kathy P turned 40, Jim 50, Glenn 60

 This here photo has a story, see one day just at sun set Pat and I were out for our usual bike ride when I saw a man all set up with tripod pointing out toward Biddle ave, I looked to see what he was shooting and it was the amazing sun behind a lovely church steeple, it was glowing so beautiful. I thought I really needed that photo also. It took me nearly a whole month before I ran out on purpose with my camera just at sunset to get the same shot, but damn, the sun wasn't behind the steeple like before, I drove around town like a mad man, trying to get the right angle and it just wasn't going to happen, so I gave up and took a picture of the top of Lowes, no steeple, no fabulous glow, just a perfect FAIL

 Here's Auntie Kathy lighting candles for the big 0 birthday people

 A bike ride at the park path but that's not us you're looking at, It was some old couple who hollered * On yer left* as the shot past us :-)