About a month ago I discovered that I have
osteoarthritis. This was after I had a number of tests at the outpatients
department at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford. I decided to go to my GP because I've been finding
it more and more difficult to walk over the past few months due to my legs
seeming to be getting very stiff. Other people have noticed and have asked me
if I'm alright. Climbing stairs, tying my shoe-laces and getting in and out of
the bath are especially difficult. My doctor referred me to the rheumatology
clinic where I was examined and had my legs X-rayed. The condition is in both
knees, but worse in my left one. I have to have further tests on my hips, but
the rheumatologist suspects I have it there as well. I probably don't have it
in my back because that would be very painful. Osteoarthritis is a disorder of
bone joints caused by a breakdown of the various tissues of the joint.
Unfortunately it is very common and about three million people in the UK have it; mostly older people than myself, but it can
strike at any age. I am in a high-risk group because of having been a hospital porter
for twenty-three years. All the countless miles and miles I walked in the John Radcliffe Hospital for so long, as well as the pushing, pulling and
lifting, have literally worn down my joints by mechanical fatigue. The good news
is that I am not in pain, unlike many other osteoarthritis-sufferers, although
my left knee sometimes hurts a bit and I need to prop it up on a pillow in bed
at night. The stiffness is not so bad that I can't work. In fact the
rheumatologist asked me what my job was and I told him, I am a gardener,
house-cleaner and odd-job man. He told me that this was good because it gave me
moderate exercise and that is beneficial for osteoarthritis. It also prevents
me putting on weight which would make the condition much worse. He recommended
I take up swimming; this is not something I liked doing last time I tried it,
but I'll give it another go. I already do a gym workout regularly. There is no
cure for osteoarthritis and for some sufferers it can be debilitating, but this
is not inevitable. With the right care it can be managed and people with it can
lead normal lives. I am not complaining or seeking sympathy, in fact at the
hospital I have seen so many people in far worse conditions than myself;
conditions I would not repeat. Also this adds another silver lining to my
dismissal from the NHS, see: http://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/one-year-on.html;
if I had not been kicked out of hospital portering in January 2012 then my
osteoarthritis would probably have developed much faster. Being still in portering I
would certainly then have been forced onto a light duty regime which would
involve covering reception, manning the dispatch desk or other boring
activities that would drive me up the wall. So I am not too bothered by my
diagnosis; it is not impinging on my normal life.
