Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group FOOLING THE DOCS

Welcome back Bradford, I'm sorry to here you’re not feeling well these days. Sounds to me that your AS has progressed well beyond where i am, which is (si joints, lower 3 vertebra fused) and now (in the last 8 or 9 months my neck and shoulders have begun to fuse.)
I have had AS sense i was about 5or 6 and the damage has been slow, but for some reason it has kicked into high gear over the last 8 or 9 months.

I don’t have allot of neurological problems so far, just noticed the other day that i get a weak feeling in my legs when i walk or stand for any length of time and i have, what i call a dead zone, on the side of my upper right thigh, an area about two inches wide and about ten inches long. That came out of a really bad five-month long flare back in my early 30’s, I’m now 38.
I'm very glad to see someone else here, who has a supportive family, my girls are so understanding (well at times) they do get frustrated with me sometimes but i can understand that. I get frustrated with me too most days!

Well that’s my 10 cents worth (my thoughts used to be worth 5 cents) but now that the Canadian dollar is doing so much better on the world money markets and with the over all high inflation rates, it must be worth 10 cents now, don’t ya think?
take care of yourself and remember


Keep on Kicking


Martin



"Trying to fly on broken wings"

Bradford is right on the staying active no matter how bad the pain is part. I went through physical therapy earlier this year and the therapist said I had the straightest spine he had seen on an ankylosing spondylitis patient.

I told him there was two reasons for it with the first being, I have always stayed active no matter how bad I was hurting. The second reason was because I always have kept my back straight no matter how bad it hurt.

As most of us know if you bend your back slightly forward when you are hurting a lot the pain will ease up a bit. However if you bend slightly forward to ease the pain it will eventually fuse in that position. I know I am fighting a battle I can not win, but I am not going to give into the pain and let it defeat me leaving me in a stooped position.

Have a great day,
Brent

Same here Brent. My Rhumey told me that all the years that i took handfuls of pain meds and stuff like that and stayed active (mainly working as a fishermen) which by the way for those of you on here that don’t know its a very physically demanding job) was the best thing i could have done for myself. While i most likely didn’t do my liver and other organs any favors i have at least fused fairly straight!

Keep on Kicking

Martin


"Trying to fly on broken wings"

Hey Martin,

I see I'm not the only one who believes in not giving in to this disease. I have been through physical therapy so many times since 1984 that it isn't funny at the doctor's request. This passed spring I was put through gym, aqua training and carpal tunnel therapy. The weight machines did great on the muscle groups they were built to isolate. The carpal tunnel treatment did very little in helping the numbness and tingling in my arms and hands. I had explained to the doctor the problems were coming from two ruptured disc in my neck, but she said let's give it a try anyway.

The aqua therapy started out fine with me going three times a week. The pace was slow and had the right amount of resistance. About the third week into it the therapist increased my exercises and picked up the speed. One Wednesday I hyper-extented my leg which gave me a fit that evening and Thrusday. On Friday I told the therapist we needed to slow things back down a bit, which we did for about the first ten minutes. After that we were back to where we were when I have gotten hurt on Wednesday. It took me two weeks to recover I then went back to my own regiment I had developed and had been using at home. It took me a long time but after 18 years of trial and error I know my bodies limitations. Try to convince a doctor that though.

Have a great one, Brent