Arthritis Charity Effort!

[coldel]

Evening Zedders, ex-Zedders and soon-to-be-Zedders,

 

As some of you are possibly aware I developed Psoriatic Arthritis last summer with knees, arms, shoulders, neck, ankles and hands all damaged and swollen and of not much use. It was certainly scary times and being *cough* a touch over 40 certainly not a period of my life I was expecting to be dealing with “old persons disease”.

 

Whilst sat on my sofa at home contemplating a possible future of losing my mobility I decided to reach out to Arthritis Research UK, a charity that provides both financial support to researchers looking for the cause/cure for this disease, but just as importantly they offer free support to sufferers. They were absolutely amazing, responding to both my emails and calls with kind, empathetic and well-structured responses, not a copy/paste in sight.

 

10 months on and through their support, along with support from friends family & work colleagues, cutting out down alcohol, implementing a new lifestyle regime and being on the right medication I can now get back to doing some of the physical activities I used to love. So to pay a little back to I decided to do something challenging and raise money for Arthritis Research - I am going to take part in a 12km mud run on the 20^th of May (Nuclear Races) which consists of plenty of mud but also 90+ obstacles - I am doing this with a mate who ‘volunteered’ to help me with the tricky stuff!

 

If you would be interested in supporting CLICK every little helps and I promise to share any hilarious muddy photos with you all w/c 21^stMay 

 

Cheers

Col

 

[Stutopia]

Great effort mate, good on ya.

 

[Flashback]

Good luck with it Col. 

[coldel]

Appreciated guys!

[LRF4N]

Sorry to hear that mate. I have gout in my family and I’ve had a few bad episodes where I’m housebound for a week, not pleasant 

 

Good luck with this one 

[coldel]

Thanks guys. Yes its amazing how debilitating it is - I am one of the lucky ones where the medication has really worked well. 

[LRF4N]

I prefer not to have lab made tablets and prefer herbal treatments and acupuncture etc but if you find something that works then keep at it

[rabbitstew]

Good luck Col.

[coldel]

Oh for sure, I also have increased fish intake, cut out booze, daily stretching and exercise (Rebecca Fett has a great book to follow called The Keystone Approach) also take Omega 3 and Turmeric supplements. At the end of the day the version I had was quite severe (couldn't actually walk without crutches, knees locked straight, couldn't lift my 5 year old son up, 2 hours max sleep each night etc.) so had to go with something a bit more impactful...I was turning into a grumpy sod!

[coldel]

As promised! Amazing experience but HARD WORK given my arthritis left me with bad knees last 3 weeks I couldn't do any exercise leading up to it. Very hot as well, a couple of people passed out on the course. Still we did it. And for you entertainment the final fun easy obstacle on video...!

 

 

 

[LRF4N]

Nice one. How much did you raise?

[coldel]

Up to £400 now, very chuffed. 

[modo]

Well done. I too have this horrible thing. Knees hips and lower back. 1 hip has been replaced but battling on with the other one. I used to do a lot of cycling but not anymore. Its the Zed now. I know its going to get worse but being positive and doing what you can helps. I dont like taking pain killers but sometimes thats all that helps.

[coldel]

Thanks Modo, it is horrible, my knees are the weak points and totally needed my pal to help me through the last 3km or so of it. Am on methotrexate and various other supplements but they seem to do the job most of the time - unless I am crawling through mud, lakes, and various other horrible bits of crap! Cannot even describe the pain at the end, despite looking like am smiling away 

[Flashback]

Congratulations @coldel that's a fantastic effort!