i am sick of pain as many of us are. just 5 yrs ago i could do most anything in the yard with no problem. now it is all i can do to plant some in the greenhouse. i am trying to stay positive and am looking forward to that spring garden. if the rain ever stops! but i can't help but wonder how in the world i will ever be able to do it. the pain in my legs is so bad now from the diabetes and arthritis that i can hardly go. pain meds help some but i hate taking them. i guess i just wanted to vent some built up anger at this thing called pain. thanks for listening.
pain..old faithful jpain!
Ohhh Janet, my heart is with you right now. I know how hard it is to endure pain sometimes but when it is at its worst I always try to think of others whos pain is worse than mine and it gets me back to the reality that I CAN endure it and I WILL garden for my sanity. Of course I look at our place and think why I am wanting to expand our yard again. LOL It is getting to be spring here early this year and I am taking full advantage of that by spending lots of time in the garden moving things around.
Take care and keep on keeping on. Cyber hugs, Lani
I so identify with this thread! Like many here, it just seemed to sneak up on me, until I found I was too stiff and sore to do much of what I had always done. Some days are better than others, but as soon as I begin a big project my body decides to sabotage my best efforts. In the past, I would have a bad day from time to time, but then I could always catch up by sheer determination when I felt better. Now I have a good day from time to time, and things are so piled up, it's defeating to even try. My standards have been severely lowered, my obsessive-compulsive tendencies throttled. In a few years, I'm sure my memory loss will come to the rescue, as I won't be able to remember what I could do in the old days. I am not a happy camper!
what really gets me down sometime since i had a full knee replacement is the reaction of some people when they see that i am not running and jumping yet. i guess everyone thinks that after surgery you are instantly cured and pain free. its true that the pain has lessened since i had my old arthritic knee but there's still plenty of pain to go around and i still have a second arthritic knee to contend with. i do have to admit that gardening does help for a little while. i hope that everyone feels better soon. pray for our soldiers in the middle east.
I had BOTH knees replaced last January and I thought when that was done that I would be on the mend and up to doing a lot that I hadn't been able to do before because of the knee pain but it is not the case. Because the angle that I stand is now different, my back is now screaming at me so I went in and had x-rays and a CT of my lower back and have been told that I should probably have back surgery now. That is out of the question for now as I have to be available for my Mother. I have also had enough pain in my right arm that I went and had an x-ray of the elbow last week and have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis in that too.
Thank goodness I can now garden by spreading my legs and the raised beds that my DH and friend made for me. I will enjoy them while I can which I hope will be many more years to come. Not pain free but happy that I can at least do my gardening and designing the next garden.
Happiness comes from within but a garden really helps the soul. Lani
lani, i now whatyou mean when you say that gardenng helps. i get so engrossed in gardening that sometimes it just makes me forget the pain. as for my other knee, i will be having that one done also. and i will probably have to have something done with the back eventually. boy i sure do wish i had a flying carpet so i could just sort of hover above my garden!!
I just don't want ANYBODY here with a camera when I am gardening. The back view would have to be extremely wide angle! LOL
Hi, you all give me hope. I've been so sick, that I've not been able to garden for a while. I was so deturmined to garden this year, then I was foreclosed on and have to move. I've been waiting for disability for over three years. And finally lost the battle to keep my bills paid. I'm so tired and soar from packing, but I've dug up some of the bulbs to take with me. I'm still waiting for my medicine to be swicthed to no co-pay, so I can get them. I've been without my meds for five months now. I have narcolepsy, and I'm having trouble staying awake without my meds. Like you all, I have a lot of pain from ruptured disks and arthritis, etc. I am determined to do a garden this year somehow. And after seeing others deturmined to garden, has given me hope. Thanks
Good to hear from another in our pain department although I wouldn't wish pain on anyone I always try to think that others are far worse off than I am.
You CAN garden, you just have to figure out how well you can stoop over or kneel or sit to garden rather than the way you did when you were totally healthy. Do raised beds or container gardening instead of flat ground. Window boxes would be nice too. And ask for help from others when you need it. I have to have my hubby move the wheelbarrow after I have filled it but he is more than glad to do that and not have to fill it too. LOL
I know how devastating that narcolepsy can be too as I had a neighbor who was one of the first people in the nation put on disability for the problem.
Anyway, it is good getting to know some of you with chronic pain and knowing that you aren't alone.
auzie did you get a lawyer to fight for your disability if not do so. they work on consignment. if you lose they don't get paid. as for gardening i have begun doing alot of container gardening because i can sit in a chair and do this. i have buckets and benches everywhere so i can sit when i need to.
I have a chair that I drag along with me and the old fashioned milk cans with the smooth tops all around the farm so I can sit when I need to. Some days I don't need to sit as much as others and then there are the ones that I need to sit most of the day.
Oh boy, let me chime in with my 2 cents....The snow has finally melted (all 3ft. of it), the birds are chirpping, the buds are beginning to turn green on the tree limbs, bulbs are waking up and will soon wave their gorgeous flowers in the breeze and I've got SPRING FEVER! I'm just itchin' to go out and dig, sow, and plant everything thing in sight!!
If only it were that easy!!! My neck/arms & back/legs ache with pain just sowing seeds inside, let alone planting flowers, herbs, shrubs, and/or trees outdoors!!!! I found that if I pace myself, do a little bit, then come in and rest, I can manage to get most of the planting done. If I'm unable to, I ask my DH or sons to assist.
I've finally agreed after many years of trying to weed, prune, cut down ornamental grasses, plus planting shrubs to pay for some help. I do have a person to do all the Spring/Fall "chores" that I use to be able to do, but can't anymore. It's not easy to loose ones independence, but sometimes you have to give up a little to gain a whole lot!
:)
oh i didn't know there were so many of us here. but it is good to know that there are others who can understand my pain. jcf, take your pain meds. i used to not like to take mine and then the doctor kept saying to me, your not an addict, you need them for life. so now i take my medications regularly and i have "life". not what it was almost 10 years ago now, but "life" none the less. more than being on the couch 24/7. with help from doctors, and new experimental type of things, i now can garden. that would have been impossible 4 years ago.
sure i'm the 15, 30 or maybe even45 minute gardener. but i'm outside getting fresh air, and making things beautiful with the help of god.
my husband is a dear. he would rather see me using my energy in the garden than doing the laundry or other household chores. so he does them, god bless him. he'll be doing the dishes and saying "a woman's work is never done". or coming up the stairs, carrying a laundry basket saying:"laundry man is here", "oooooh laundryman". LOL :o)
thank god for humor, flowers, a tender and understanding spouse and the money to be able to afford those new bulbs, or that landscaping help.
my heart goes out to you auzzie. i know too many folks that have to choose food or medications, and it is just a horrible place to be in. if you find strength in a higher power, know that he or she is there to help you through these rough times. you are not alone. i know i feel better for having stopped by the disable gardening forum and read these messages here today. it reminds me that i am blessed in so many, many ways. happy spring
debi z
I can relate to the pain, I don't think I will be able to do this year as much as last year. I have lung probelms also but keep try'g to going.
I am embarrassed by the condition of my gardens. Where I had artificial ponds full of fish and plants, I now have holes needing to be cleaned out. Where there were flower beds, there are weeds and grass crowding out the flowers. The chores I thought I would always be able to handle when I designed and built the gardens are overwhelming now. I haven't actually gardened for about four years. I do a little here and there, but it all looks so needy. Because it is! I am determined to win the battle, so I have put down cardboard and newspapers everywhere, and pray for energy to put down more and then to transfer the soil to cover them before the wind blows it all over the pasture. It's not what I want it to be out there, and I am slowly realizing it will never be, but the challenge keeps me dreaming.
To ALL my "ENABLED" (I refuse to use the word "disabled") Gardening Friends:
Please re-read my posted message "You Are NOT Alone!".....I hope it will help a lot of you gain the "inner strength" it takes to be an "enabled gardener" and a more determined human being to overcome various health issues.
http://davesgarden.com/t/314111/You+Are+NOT+Alone
After reading that post I am on my way outside to work in my garden. It really shows me what I have said to myself all along that there are people far worse off than I that are doing much more than I do and facing far worse pain than I have so I must keep on keeping on in this garden and life in general. I know I DO have the inner strength to get going on my dreams of a beautiful garden even if it is smaller than I once dreamed of having.
Life is GREAT!!!!
I like the use of the word "enabled". It has such a more positive connotation, and that alone is a kick in the seat of the pants for those of us who are tempted to wallow in a little puddle of self pity. I am including myself in that group, because I find that I give in and don't get as much done as I could. Being an extremist, I have always bitten off more than I could chew, and I need to get back to that self. A favorite teacher always told us our reach should always exceed our grasp.
Aimee, Your favorite teacher was a very wise and learned person. No wonder you enjoyed him/her so much!
On a personal note, I feel strongly that this forum needs to be renamed from the "disabled" to the "enabled gardeners" forum! What do you guys think? Anyone else feel this way? Perhaps, I should start a new thread...?
YES! I found it so difficult to accept the label of disabled, I neglected for almost two years to file for certain "benefits", and still don't have a handicap thingie for the car. I know it's just a word, but words go straight into the subconscious mind and begin to rearrange our perspective. I prefer to think I am temporarily re-routed. Some goals must be reached by a different route or method. Some goals must even be redefined or resized, thereby enabling me to continue. I am always surprised when one of my children's friends asks, with tender concern, "How are you doing?" You see, I still think I am the Mommy and they are the children, and I am stronger and bigger and responsible for them. I have to work at not reacting, as the baby talk they sometimes use threatens to undermine my well-known independence.
i like enabled gardeners shirley1md. i vote to change it. i have found that it doesn't really matter what someone calls me, it is how i view it that matters.
i think one of the hardest things about coming to terms with my disablility was that i had to change how i viewed who i was and not to view myself as "what i did". 99% of the time i don't even think of myself anymore as having limitations that i didn't have 10 years ago. but i know folks who enjoy wallowing in there self pity. no thanks. when i was first injured i babied my leg. it started to attrophy. well when my girlfriend pointed that out to me i nearly freaked out. that was the day i said, no matter the pain i will use my leg, because the alternative is to loose it and that is not acceptable to me.
i met a couple on a cruise. the woman was in a wheelchair and she put herself there. she refused to get up and go. i thought this was true and then the husbands got together to chat and my dh was told that it was the truth, that she gave up and accepted wheelchair life as the only option, when it was not. somehow i think she enjoyed the government job she had changing the office to accommodate her.
i have gone on vacations when i have felt absolutely horrible. why? because i'd much rather spend 10 minutes enjoying a new adventure than 24 hours in my house. :)
self talk is a great way to overcome the stereotypes or the self pities. i view things differently now. not what i can't do, but what i can.
in gardening i use weed preventatives, why because i can't get down and do all that weeding. i use organic where i can.
i raked some the past few days. oh that ache in my left arm felt good and bad. it was the good pain of working muscles not used since last year. was my other pain higher. sure it was, but it was worth it to me. i ask myself in everything i do, is it worth the xtra pain. only i can answer that question for me. gardening is worth it for me. vacuuming is not. :o) i can either work outside in the garden or do the laundry. the stairs are a killer for me. guess what wins out? the garden. my dh is a doll and i know this. without him i would have to make other choices. perhaps hire someone to do these chores if i could. or ask someone to help, when they ask what they can do?
i don't know about you, but life is so full of wonderful simple things. i count myself as lucky that i can take breaks in my gardening and sit and watch the birds or the squirrels. so many folks who work full time and have full time families too have no time to sit and smell the roses as the saying goes.
so get out there and enjoy your gardens.
Please see the thread I posted on a proposed name change for this forum. All comments are welcome.
http://davesgarden.com/t/376567/
Does anyone else take Glucosomine/Chondrotin & MSM? I started taking both of these months ago and have noticed a big change for the better. I also take Tramadol which is suppose to block the pain signals and Percocet(1 tablet a day max allowed).This is in addition to Excedrin and tylenol, and some herbal items. But there are days when I just can's do much if anything. I have a feeling today may be one of them. Tiredness is one of my big problems. Sometimes it seems as thro my heart is struggling to beat enough to keep me alive and I don't have bad cardiac problems.
A good long warm/hot shower often helps relieve sore muscles and the discomfort from them. Joint pain is a bit more difficult to relieve, but moist heat does help. Nerve pain is nearly impossible to relive with medication. Reducing the swelling or pinching of the nerve is about the only remedy. I have a problem with sciatica often and cold packs-I HATE cold-does help.
I do love my yardening. It took me years to begin to use that word. Now I do so freely because the garden is actually in the yard. We built raised beds several years ago and love them. However no one told us that every few years the concrete blocks will sink into the earth and have to be lifted back up, realigned, etc. Literally a remaking of a 4' X 26' bed and the moving of nearly 50 concrete blocks. I MUST have lots of help with that job. Ether that or add another layer of blocks and fill in with extra dirt to make it full again.
I think I'll go lie down again for awhile. GOD bless and keep each and all of you.
I take glucosamine chondroitin, and I agree it makes a world of difference. I couldn't handle all of the pain killers you do, though. My stomach would rebel, I would sleep most of the time and my breath would be even more difficult. I have listed the herbs I use several times, and find that I am not alone in the use of any of them. Some people get good results, some don't. I had to experiment a bit to get it right for me, and I think each of us does. It's something in our individual systems and the way they handle nutrients, making us need more than might be thought of as average, so each of us must search for our own solutions. Once we find it, life gets better and less painful.
i have thought of trying the joint meds but i just cannot afford them.
Vic wrote to me and said she drinks apple cider vinegar daily -- 3 tbsp in a glass of water -- and it has really helped with her joint pain. She said the kind she uses contains the mother.
I'm still not real clear on that last part, other than that you need it (I think) to make vinegar? http://www.gangofpour.com/diversions/vinegar/vinegar1.html
The "mother" is ike the seed to start a plant or the starter for sourdough.
I think the "mother" in vinegar is the mold that makes it into usable vinegar. I can remember a friend had a jar in her window that she was waiting for a "mother" to develope. Now I wish I would have asked more questions of her. :)
Janaet, I use the joint meds from WalMart, etc. Amiee, being hyperactive I get some energy boosts from some of the meds like Percocet which makes many people sleepy. I don't take enough to get 'high'(I'm only allowed one pill a day which I break into 4ths and take a 1/2 at a time at the most)but it does give me energy to get things done. Maybe it's just that the pain and therefore the stiffness are gone that I have more energy. I also started taking Vioxx last week. I've learned quickly that taking it at bedtime lets me feel better in the mornings. I no longer take Excedrin except for miagraine headaches and take much less tylenol, Tramadol and Percocet now too. Taking the Claritin at night seems to have helped with the morning headaches too. I'm not saying that I have no pain anymore, but it isn't as bad as I use to have.
Often I have found a nice hot shower to tub soak does as much good as meds for easing the discomforts of athritis and fibgo. I use some aroma therapy too. Lavender is good for relaxing. I've started using Valarian to help me get to sleep at night and that helps me a lot without the side effects of some sleep meds.
GOD bless and keep all of you.
shhhh don't tell anybody but I haven't had a morning headache since I got my VPAP machine for the sleep apnea problem that I have. I guess getting proper sleep is essential for me to relieve headaches. But you mustn't tell anybody or I will get a headache again. SHHHHHHH
Ponditis, I suppose you meant CPAP? Or is it a different one? I keep hearing so much about people getting great results from this machine. I know a person in my town who lives in his van, and can't get electricity. He has epilepsy and has had great difficulty remembering to take his meds. I finally told him about these reports, and he was tested overnight for sleep apnea. Sure enough, he had a severe case. But he has no way to use the machine with no electricity. Somehow it seems he falls through all the cracks when it comes to housing, SSI and Medicaid. I feel strongly that if he could get into a situation where he could use the CPAP machine that is already available to him, his memory would improve and then he would be better able to control the epilepsy. In his case, I do believe it's a matter of life or death. He was always a bit weird, but I can see him becoming more and more out of touch with reality, and I am convinced it's the sleep apnea causing it.
CPAP is almost the same machine only my machine has a Variable Positve Airway Pressure meaning that I breath in and out at different pressures so my machine is set to my way of breathing. I only have problems when I have to buy a new mask and hoses as they are over a hundred dollars and you are supposed to replace them every three to four months. I am still using my first mask that I got in October 2002.
That is so sad about that fellow, Aimee. It is sooo sad how we treat people in this manner. I only wish I could blink my eyes and make all the healthcare and welfare system take care of our own first and properly. I agree that proper sleep might help him a lot. I wish I could do something for him immediately as I am sure you would too, Aimee. God Bless you for caring.
My pain has gone down since I got the machine too. Thank you Lord!
Ponditis, I am so happy that you are getting relief from the pain and headaches. We have a CPAP maching e friend who will NOT use it gave us but Jack refuses to even try it. What is the matter with men? I have told my Jack that sometimes think he enjoys suffering because he doesn't want to do much if anything to control it except do nothing physical at all. As long as he can take a pill, which must have no bad side effects, he will sometimes take it. But most meds have side effects which effect his heart badly or keep him from sleeping. I really get short of patience with him sometimes. Then there are days when he will walk, etc. to keep his blood sugar under control and will have a lot of pain for doing so.
It really doesn't seem right that people born, raised, worked, etc. in this country can't get as much help as immigrants. I have compassion for those less fortunate in other nations but I also want to see our own taken care of properly. Those 'cracks' in the aid systems seem to be larger for our own than for immigrants. It just isn't right. We taxpayers are the ones footing the bills anyway. Ok, I'll get off my soapbox.
my cpap does take away the morning headaches. the doctor says that you have these headaches because your brain is being deprived of o2 when you slee due to the apnea. my problem with is is chronic sinutitis so i cannot use it every night but when i do i see a big difference. i am fortunate enough to have ins. to pay for the expenses.
My insurance will pay the expenses AFTER my deductable is met :(
Thank goodness I don't have any sinus problems. That seems to be the one thing on me that works properly.
Leaflady, in order for the CPAP machine to be effective for your hubby he needs to be monitored in a sleep clinic so the machine can be set to his breathing pattern and his correct pressure. Tell him that he is opening himself up for a stroke, heart attack, and all the other symptoms of Sleep Apnea if he doesn't get tested and use the machine. Maybe he will listen if it comes from one of us so let me know if I need to mail him the brochures on all the bad health problems associated with lack of sleep or oxygen.
Just a note re: meds. I get many of my meds through pharmacies in Manitoba Canada;,they are often 1/3 the price here in US--often just have to have your doc fax the script in. Also, for many people who fit the financial criteria-low income-many drug companies have patient assistant programs. These offer free drugs if you qualify-each company has different ways of getting them-one form to several forms, may have to reapply every month or once a year, may only cover for 6 months out of a year, cover only some meds that the company produces. Get the name of the company and check it out. Both ways will cost time, but may save a bundle and not have to make a choice between food and meds.
OOOOhhh I'm so sorry everyone is in such pain! I feel terrible for feeling better now after reading everyone's messages, I'm really not glad you hurt. Just makes me feel like I'm not the only one and that others understand what I'm trying, not very successfully most of the time, to deal with. Regarding sinusitus and sleep apnea machines (I use a bi-pap), my doctor suggested a full face mask for those nights when sinusitis is acting up - it's terrible to sleep with on cause it covers your mouth and nose - but it's invaluable to me because I can't even fall asleep good without my machine on. Regarding the pain meds, I am sooo glad everyone seems to be taking as sparingly as you can for your situation. When I first started having trouble I went to a doctor who wasn't very good and he told me that I couldn't become addicted to pain meds because I needed them in order to function as a "normal" (if there is such a thing) person. Sounds stupid now, but I believed him and ended up in serious trouble. Most anyone else won't have this problem i don't think because this doctor was nuts. He graduated top of his class from john hopkins - but what we didn't know was that it was in research and development. He was using his patients as guinea pigs to test out all these new theories he had for curing fibromyalgia - ended up making it worse. (He's not practicing anymore, long story) Anyway by the time he was done with me ended up in rehab to detox from all the meds he had me on. Other doctors wouldn't even take me until I went thru detox the lawyers had people analyze what we were supposed to be taking and they said all of us should be dead. (I think we're still here because we were so loopy we couldn't remember to take it all) Anyway, the gardening seems to be helping me a lot. The house is a lost cause but have a wonderful DH who does dishes, laundry, and general pick up. Don't know where I'd be without him. I haven't figured out how to resign myself to not being able to take care of things like I used to. I may never. I have spurts where self-pity engulfs me and I kinda give up - then I rouse out of inerta and try again usually overdoing it completely. It's very difficult for me to give up the independance and feeling like I can handle things when I can't anymore. Slowly I am being drawn back to God - I have kinda went my own way and he has been patient with me for a so long. If I can just stay focused (I tend to ramble and lose train of thought - side effect of all those drugs). Guess just glad to be here and still trying. Tracy This thread seems to be an old one I just noticed. Hope some of you are still here. Reroute me if you are to wherever your at now (should I look for enabled gardeners?) By the way my DH is making me raised beds out of tires the heat stays in the rubber in the winter and they're free for the hauling. He even going to stack them says the dirt will keep them together. He's making compost pile out of them too. They look real ugly right now but I plan to figure out a way to brighten them up. When things start blooming in them it'll help tremendously. However, everyone thinks we're nuts! What else is new? Rambling Again - Bye for now!
Tracy, I am so glad that you find our threads helpful to you. Sometimes it takes looking through anothers eyes to see that you aren't alone or as bad off as you though you were. You will also find as you hang out around DG that these are some of the most giving people on the internet. If you need to have people to pray for you then just put your story in Prayers forum and you will have them praying etc. Truly a family here for lots of us and we are always willing to adopt another family member into our fold.
I have an appointment with a Rheumatologist June 12 so I will know more then on what I am fighting myself. I know I have osteoarthritis because that is why I needed two new knees last year and now need a new elbow. I wish they could give me a new back though. Hmmmm I wonder how long it will take for that surgery to become available?
Sure am glad that your Doctor is not practicing any more. He sounds horrid. Sometimes we find people that are just in things for the money or glory. He sounds like just that kind. I have heard that if you are truly in pain that you won't become addicted to the pain drugs but I also know that they can be too easy to optain and that taking them is sometimes too easy to do rather than put up with a little pain now and then. It is never good to be so out of it that you can't be yourself unless you are at deaths door.
I can't fall asleep without my V-pap machine either most nights. I have gotten so used to it and it takes away all the outside noises that used to keep waking me Since the V-pap machine I don't have to keep getting up to go potty many times during the night so I wake rested. I get my full 6 hours of sleep each night and wake very rested. No morning headaches anymore is really a plus. Love my machine!!!!!!
My hubby is good about taking care of the animals but the housework waits for me. giggle. He will fix Ramen soup for dinner every time I ask him to so that is almost a lost cause also.
Anyway, welcome to Dave's Garden and we hope you stay around so we can get to know one another.
Thank you so much for the welcome - I'm really enjoying this site it does feel like a family! You all sound so close to each other that it makes me feel welcome. I'm even trying to talk DH into going with me to the KY RU in late Sept. sounds like so much fun. Tracy