Pain and Weakness

Pembroke Pines, FL(Zone 10a)

I try and try but my legs are getting weaker and weaker and the pain is also increaseing and my garden is suffering as much as me. I have multiple problems but at age 68 I must say the Post Polio Syndrome is the most painful and crippling. I dearly love my tomato garden but have great difficulty maintaining my tomato plants. Thank goodness for the earthbox people as they have made the process of weeding obsolete. Just had to air my problem. Feel better now but I must take it easy again today and so my garden suffers. I feel so guilty....

Hi tplant
Hope you get to feeling better. Don't have to worry about pain, but know gardening can be discouraging sometimes. Hang in there. Remember ... it's suppose to be fun, so don't overdo! :)
... Elaine

San Antonio, TX(Zone 8b)

Gee, Tplant, I wish your news could be better, but there is no reason for you to feel guilty. After all, you have been performing admirably against tough challenges, and we are proud of you. From seeing pictures of your earthbox setup, I'm wondering if having them lifted a bit higher on wooden trestles or stands could help you. Perhaps if you didn't need to bend from your chair there would be less strain on your leg muscles. And get someone to help you sometimes. You can supervise a highschooler from the neighborhood, and maybe start someone else into gardening.
Yuska

Pembroke Pines, FL(Zone 10a)

Yuska --- I never thought of hiring a teen ? Good Idea ! I really don't bend because I use a garden scooter sold by Gardeners Supply. I must be very careful now not to strain myself as the muscles weaken and do not recover because of this damning disease.( Post Polio Syndrome.) The scooter ,for me, makes gardening possible as the seat is also adjustable. I feel good today.

San Antonio, TX(Zone 8b)

I use a tractor seat on rollers that is fitted with a tractor seat that swivels. (from Lee Valley). Much better that the flat seat rolling bench I was using before. Only problem is sometimes if I lean too far over a bed I'm likely to lose my balance, but I do manage fairly well.

Re: the teenager. Some highschools have horticulture classes, some with greenhouses. (I have a cousin who teaches in such a place.) A student could probably earn extra credit by helping you. Also, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts earn merit badges; 4-HClub members have similar programs. With the extra incentive and a stipend from you, you're likely to have a really motivated worker. Good luck, and please stay in touch! Yuska

Milton, MA(Zone 6a)

Tplant,

My best friend has PPS and I have MS. We used to be able to go shopping together.... now neither of us can do much of anything! [Besides, we're in different states.] But we both are hanging in there, sometimes by our fingernails, sometimes with an arm. We both have pain and weakness; although she CAN touch her nose with her finger with her eyes closed, she's in much more pain than I. It's hard to be incurable though, isn't it?

xxx and oooo

Pembroke Pines, FL(Zone 10a)

Having an almost pain free day today ! Going to work in my garden..

Pembroke Pines, FL(Zone 10a)

Just came in from the garden. Still would have been out there but the darned mosquitoes were out in force. I guess the hurricanes forced them to shelter and now they are coming out with a vengence.
Todays weather was magnificent. Highs in the low 80's, breezy, dry weather and best of all I felt little or no pain but I noticed that I did not have all my strength and became winded very easy with the slighest bit of lifting over 15 lbs ? My son was home from the long hours of police duties (12hrs. per day 7 days per wk.) because of our hurricanes and severe damage. He is back on normal duty now and I can usually count on him for whatever. (A greater son a father could not find) The weather is supposed to hold for a week or so and this will give me the time I need to get all my tomatos and peppers in my EBs. Like to show you how it's going as I'm going and I will do so starting tomorrow or the day after.

Pembroke Pines, FL(Zone 10a)

Feeling real bad today. Terrible pain in my right ankle.(PPS) My hands feel like they are on fire.(Carpul Tunnel) The weather is cool and grayish and real damp, more like a NY winter day. I know, as I lived there for 40 yrs. Hate feeling like this because this is not the true me but I am forced to take it easy. Don't like to take my pain pills but today will be an exception. Hoping and praying tomorrow will be a better day.

San Antonio, TX(Zone 8b)

I'm really hoping that you are feeling better by today, Tplant. Does damp weather tend to worsen symptoms, as it does for some of arthritis sufferers? Yuska

Pembroke Pines, FL(Zone 10a)

Damp and cold combined do me in. A bad combination for me. My blood circulation in my lower extremities is poor and therein lies the problem. My hands because of carpul tunnel are also very susceptible to cold and the pain feels like my hands are on fire while they are actually ice cold. I could never again live in a cold climate as it would lead to amputation due to frost bite especially in my legs which are numb all the time due to a nerve disorder caused by PPS. When the temps drop into the 60's combined with wind and dampness as it has been here for the past several days I'm confined to my home thus my garden suffers. Post Polio Syndrome was brought on by stress of my heart attack in 98 and that illness causes carpul tunnel, nerve disorders, weakness of all the good muscles that carried me all these years, arthritis and other minor problems.PPS remains in all polio survivors and just waits patiently in our bodies until severe stress adds the ignition to the disease and there is no cure. We must not exert ourselves as the polio destroys the neurons in our body that carry the orders from our brain for the body to perform. The only problem is that we PPS'ers do not make new neurons like the average person so the more we exert our muscles the weaker and fatter we get and this is why I am looking forward to my Lap-Banding surgery.

Dunedin, FL(Zone 10b)

Merry Christmas
Never lose your Faith, Courage, Laughter , Love !!! I have ALS ( Lou Gehrig's) I am mostly Bed Bound now. But every second I can I am doing inside garden growing Afrcian violets by leaf creating Life and sharing them with others ! So much FUn and Joy ! Even though my Husbands Health has gone down hills sense his heart attack in Jan, 2004 and taking care of all my needs we have some small gardens outsdie. When ever I feel up to it I'm out theree pinching out Coleus to keep bushy or taking seeds from out variegated Four O'Clocks to share with others . Have fun , and just enjoy and do a little at a time. Or do some container gardening, or inside is Fun too !
Merry Chritsmas , Allison

So. Puget Sound, WA(Zone 8b)

Hi Tplant, I have PPS too but not yet as advanced as yours. I was one of the last to get polio as a teen. I do have days I can't do too much of anything strenuous but when I can I'm concentrating on making my yard in my new house very low maintenance and accessable. I know I shouldn't push myself too much but there's so much I still want to do! I'm sure we'll both feel better when the weather warms and the gardens dry out some.

God bless you, Katy

Pembroke Pines, FL(Zone 10a)

Katy ---- Very, Very Important! Do not under any conditions push yourself or you will kill the little messengers from the brain to the muscles called neurons. In normal people they are replaced with rest(sleep) but not with us. When they are used they are gone forever and we get weaker and weaker. Our families may not understand us and call us lazy but so be it. As a matter of fact we are just the opposite. We are type A personalities and always made certain that we performed better than anyone to overcome our disability, So sloooooowwww down and take it easy or your good muscles will become jelly. Extended excercise is the worst thing that we can do for ourselves. It is truly frusterating for me to be looked upon as a "Lazy individual." This happens with my distant family in other states and not my immediate family. There are good Polio books available. The best is by Dr Richard Bruno called "The Polio Paradox." Do purchase it and share it with your family as they really don"t understand all even though they may seem to. You can depend on me for any support for I really understand you.
Ted

So. Puget Sound, WA(Zone 8b)

Thanks Tplant for the advice. I really do try to pace myself but I'm recently retired and still want to complete my projects "on time". And yes, I'm a type A overachiever. ;~) But I've found the stress of frustration can mess me up almost as much as overdoing things. I got a rain suit for Christmas and I can now slip outside for a half hour or so even when it's raining. It's wonderful! And I'm not sitting here working myself into a snit and getting all tensed up. I know, I'm a mess! LOL

Pembroke Pines, FL(Zone 10a)

Stress brings on PPS. PPS hit me hard immeadiately after my heart attack in 98. My hair seemed to turn gray overnite and the weakness started. I really didn't know I had PPS until four years later when I also acquired shortness of breath and then carpul tunnel in both hands. A neurologist diagnosed me after some electrical tests three years ago.

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