Sunday, April 20, 2008

Golden Oldie Doesn't Crochet Anymore

I wonder if I can change the name of the blog because I don't have much hope of crocheting again anytime soon.The arthritis pain has developed in my hands, and I can't hold a crochet very well anymore. Right now I'm using the two finger typing method because it hurts my wrists to type properly. The pain seems to be getting worse instead of better, and I know that I can no longer delay a trip to the rheumatologist. Of course it will probably be the end of May or the first of June before I'll be able to get an appointment. The Snyder doctor gave me a prescription for Tramadol, but it doesn't have much effect on the pain.
I have been doing a lot of reading lately rather than crocheting and watching TV. With the writers' strike this season and so many reruns and reality shows on TV instead, I had pretty much lost interest in any of the shows I once watched. Books have become my obsession rather than patterns and yarn.
I volunteer at our little local library on Monday evenings from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. A few come in to use the Internet and I've even checked out a few books for others, but the majority of my time is spent reading or browsing through the shelves. It's a very pleasent way to spend an evening.
I don't have any special type of novel that I'm reading right now. I just go with whatever strikes my fancy. A few retired teachers I know only read the trashy romance novels (their words, not mine), but I have to have something that has a good story to it. About the only thing I won't read is nonfiction, especially those self-help books. I think I'm beyond help, and I don't need a book to make me feel inadequate.
I hope the rheumy can help me deal with the pain. It's hard to imagine having to feel like this for the remainder of my life. My mother suffered from arthritis in her later years. I never knew how badly she hurt until I begin experiencing the same symptoms. I wish I had been more sympathetic to her condition.

5 comments:

Priscilla said...

I wondered what had happened to you. I'm sorry to hear about the arthritis pain. My mom has a lot of arthritis, too, and I don't know how she manages to live with the pain. Hopefully the doctor will be able to help somehow.

Deneen said...

My grandfather had bad arthritis of his knees and I guess I never understood how bad it was until I developed the auto-immune problem and realized how painful it all was.

If it is Rheumatoid Arthritis, there are so many meds, both anti-inflammatory meds and pain meds that can help you. You'll still have flare ups, but they will help. One of the ladies at my local library had RA bad, did the meds for a year and, although still has the slightly disfigured fingers, doesn't have pain and can knit and do other things without any problem.

I'm here for ya.

Kimberly said...

So sorry to hear that the pain is stopping you from crocheting! Hopefully a Doctor and some meds can help lessen the pain for you.

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry to hear that, Linda! Now I know why you haven't been around much. :( Please let us know if the Dr. is able to help!

Crochetheaven said...

Linda - I truly feel for you. I don't have arthritis, but I have a condition called RSD. I pray that you can get an appt. soon with positive results.