'A long long time ago, I can still remember when that music used to make me smile' ... The music still makes me smile but mostly I grimace in frustration. Arthritis or Arthur (I still feel pangs of heart break that our brave, sword wielding hero should be associated with such a cowardly condition) made the music die.
Dancing, high heels are taken away to be replaced by sitting, smiling 'no, I'm fine thanks' and nodding reassuringly.
Every day with Arthritis is a perfomance. I should win an Oscar, an Olivier, a Bafta for my day. No actress or actor could match this.
Wake up, rearrange crunching, cracking, screaming bones until you can sit up by grabbing the side of the mattress and hauling myself up.
Swing leg over edge of bed and grab crutches. Stand, sit back down (rinse and repeat as the shampoo says) until balance is stabilized. Hop to the bathroom, have comical moment with crutches and loo seat, return to bedroom and sit down for 10 minutes until pain throttles back enough to be able to see straight.
Get dressed. No easy feat when you can't reach your toes - and wielding crutches set off downstairs, avoiding cats.
