Day 145: It's shit.

MY SHOULDER HURTS. 

Just getting the shit bit over and done with so I can move on to happier things... like the Arthritis Research UK 75th Anniversary Lantern Opera last Thursday. Not only was I lucky enough to be invited but I was also honoured to be asked to speak - to explain to the guests what it is like to be a young person with arthritis. I was tempted to just stand up and scream, "IT'S SHIT" at the top of my voice... but in the end I decided that I should probably at least attempt to come up with something slightly more articulate. 

As if I wasn't nervous enough I was also completely out of my comfort zone - this was by far the poshest do I have ever attended in my 24 years of life. To give you some idea of just how posh, I was sat next to someone with the title 'Rt Hon'. RT HON. Fortunately watching the Titanic finally paid off and I remembered to use my cutlery from the outside in. I also brought along moral support in the form of fellow arthritis warrior Sam and BFF Dani. 

So here it is. I even got the phrase "it's shit" in in the end, to some awkward laughter from the posh peeps. But the truth is, there isn't any other word for it. 'Rubbish' just doesn't do it justice.

Love,
Cat x

Day 138: I'm not the only young person to be living with RA

This may come as a surprise to some of you but as I might have mentioned once or twice before, I am not the only young person to have ever been diagnosed with the bitch that is RA. In fact, there are around 25,000 young people under the age of 25 in the UK that are living with it. One of those people is Sean.

I met Sean a couple of years ago through Arthritis Research UK. At 12 years old Sean was a normal kid. At 12 years old Sean was playing badminton for England. But at 12 years old Sean was also diagnosed with RA. Not surprisingly this ended his badminton career, kept him out of school for a while, and pretty much affected his life in every way possible... something which I can relate to only too well.

But has he let it ruin his life? Has he fuck. In fact from 2^nd October – 14^th October this year he cycled 876 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats. This is a pretty bloody impressive achievement for any able-bodied person, let alone someone with RA. Here’s a quick summary:

1. He saw 53 dead animals on his journey.
2. Every bloke he spoke to in Cornwall was a Manchester United fan.
3. Scotland is the most beautiful place he has ever seen.
4. Warrington is the biggest shit hole he has ever seen.
5. He learnt that Scotland and Wales both hate England (there is a sign to welcome you into both countries but nothing the other side saying ‘Welcome to England’).
6. He spent a day and a half glued to the toilet.
7. ‘The Only Way is Essex’ has tarnished his county and therefore he eventually resorted to telling people he was from London.
8. He went two weeks only wearing two pairs of pants.
9. He came within inches of being run over by an articulated lorry.
10. He spat on his own face more than a dozen times.
11. He only got two punctures.
12. HE MADE IT.

This is the point where I shamelessly ask you to donate some money to Arthritis Research UK. Sean and I have been lucky enough to respond to treatment, but not everyone is as fortunate as us and more research needs to be done to find new treatments and, who knows, maybe even a cure. If you can spare a quid or two, you can sponsor him here. He cycled 80 MILES A DAY. For 12 DAYS. My bum hurts just thinking about it. Oh and by the way, he did the whole thing on his own, completely unsupported.

Love,

Cat x

Day 133: Tramadol, you bitch.

In exactly 5 months and 11 days I will be doing this...

...AGAIN. Mama Bull is going to kill me. On 22nd April 2012 I will be attempting to run the London Marathon for the 4th year in a row. Yes, I'm slightly insane. But there's also a very good reason why I am doing this - to fund research into new treatments for arthritis and to raise awareness of the disease and its effects at the same time. Plus there's also the great pleasure I take in being able to stick two fingers up to my disease as I hobble over the finish line. 

I'm hoping for a slight improvement on last time. I hadn't been able to do any training because I'd been too ill, and it was touch and go as to whether I was even going to make it to the start line let alone the finish line. By mile 12 I was ready to give up but my brother, Patrick - determined not to have got up at ridiculous o'clock on a Sunday just to watch me fail - climbed over the barriers and walked the rest of it with me in his shorts and plimsolls. If it wasn't for him (and the swig of cider I had at mile 16) I would not have made it to the end. I was then pretty much carried over the finish line by my dear friends Matt Cecil and Zoe 'the crowd loved me' Peel. Surely this time round can't get any worse than that...right? 

Also this week I started my paediatrics placement (that's kids, not feet by the way). As I may have mentioned once or twice, I've been pain free for a while now. It seems this has apparently turned me into a massive baby. Yesterday I woke up with some pain in my wrists. This is normal for someone with RA, and after 10 years I am well and truly used to it. However, after a couple weeks of no pain my ego had apparently decided  I'm now above putting up with a little bit of pain and I thought, 'I'm not taking any of this crap today'. So I took some Tramadol. Rookie error. Since I haven't had to take Tramadol for a while now, my body has become un-used to it and consequently I had a spectacular reaction. I'm talking fainting and vomming out of my nose and everything...right in the middle of the kids' ward. Mortified doesn't even cover it. Needless to say I won't be making that mistake again any time soon. 

In other news I have been trying to add a bit of humour to my speech for the ARUK 75th Anniversary Lantern Opera next week. As it turns out I'm not a very funny person. My friends said, "Surely you must have some funny anecdotes from when you were younger?" Oh yeah, of course, remember that time I was in so much pain I couldn't get out of bed, LOL?...maybe not. It seems arthritis is almost as unfunny as me. 

Anyway, I better get to the gym... apparently I have 26.2 miles to run or something.

Love,
Cat x

Day 123: The 'I' word

Last Monday I headed to ARUK HQ where I had the pleasure of meeting Jacqui, who is organising the 75th anniversary Lantern Opera. A few months ago I was honoured to be asked to speak at the event. Many of the people attending won't have any idea what it is like to live with arthritis, or even that, (surprise, surprise) yes, people under the age of 80 really can have it. And it's my very important job to educate them. No pressure then. During our conversation Jacqui used the 'I' word. It's not the first time someone's used it but I don't feel any less uncomfortable the more I hear it. The word I am referring to is 'inspirational'. I have often wondered what makes people tell me I'm inspirational. It's just not a title I feel I deserve. The way I see it, if you're unlucky enough to be hit over the head (and shoulders, and knees, and wrists, and ankles, etc) with the shit stick that is RA, you can go one of two ways. You can feel sorry for yourself and let it defeat you. This is completely understandable. It's completely shit, there's no other word for it. Faced with a future of pain, immobility, and an uncertain prognosis, I suspect most of you would go the same way. However there is also a second option, an option which I have just happened to have chosen. Yes, having arthritis sucks big time, but I refuse to let it ruin my life or stop me achieving my goals. I don't think there's anything inspirational about that. After all, I'm just living my life aren't I?!  

On Tuesday I caught up with Phil and Sally from BRIT. Now if anyone deserves the title 'inspirational' it's Phil (in fact Sally does as well for putting up with him on a daily basis). Despite being told he'd never walk again after sustaining spinal cord injuries during an explosion in Iraq Phil has rowed the Channel, climbed El Capitan, walked the London Marathon twice, and completed the 3 Peaks Challenge in 72 hours. Today he filled me in on his latest challenge which will see him raising awareness of his charity BRIT. Now I realise you must all be on the edge of your seats right now wanting to get in on the big secret, but you're just going to have to wait until January 24th 2012 to find out...

Phil and I at the start of the London Marathon 2010.

On Thursday thanks to the bitch that is RA I had to go to the dentist. 

THE DENTIST. 

Before I'm allowed to start the bone juice treatment I have to get the all clear from the dentist because of the risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw (still not sounding any less scary, is it?)  Now I can see the importance and all, but I REALLY hate the dentist. Sitting still whilst some woman pokes around in my mouth, tells me I need to brush my teeth better, and then charges me 17 quid for the pleasure isn't exactly my idea of fun. But I got the all clear to go ahead so I guess I can forgive her just this once. With that trauma over and done with I headed over to ARUK HQ again for a catch up with the lovely Riikka, Communications Officer extraordinaire. 

Oh yeah, and the arthritis thing... with such a busy week I barely had time to stop for long enough to notice that once again I am PAIN FREE. 

Love,

Cat x