Hello
I am 69 years old and have had OA for many years. I worked as a carer for over 30 years but had to retire age 57 with bones that creaked and groaned as well as excuciating pain. Some days I knew I was in more pain than the clients I was helping. However in 1997 on my GPS advise I gave up the job.

By 2000 I had my first joint replacement....my right knee. That was a complete success, but I was still suffering badly with my back and shoulders getting so bad I would go to bed....only to get up within the hour and sleep sitting up in a chair as it was the only way I could get comfortable. I had tried Trackion and every other piece of quipment the physio department had to offer but nothing gave any lasting relief.

By 2001 I had a total right shoulder replacement....2003 my left shoulder was totally replaced also. I was slowly becoming Bionic!! X_rays on my back revealed degenerative discs and Lumber Spondylosis.....and Cervical Spondylosis of the neck region. Yep a bit of a disaster and constantly in pain from either one bit or the other.

For several years I had been told the pain in my butt and leg was Sciatica.....ohhhhhh I can't begin to tell you the hours sleep I lost in agony with pain the went right down my right leg....at the same time my left knee was ...ouch ouch too. So to keep the story short I had 3 Corticosteroid Injections in the left knee during 2006....they really did help the knee for a while. To continue the short version, the Sciatica wasn't Sciatica but my right hip badly worn....so I had a total hip replacement 13 days ago. The pain had gone and I am so very grateful.A long way to go for complete recovery but it will come eventually.

My problem now is by having to use the left leg to 'lever' myself up the bed and off a chair... the left knee is so very painful I feel I have swapped one pain for another.

So with 4 new joints I am very grateful to modern technology as without it I would be in agony and crippled.

One of my main problems is I am alergic to many of the pain killers and especially anything Morphine based medicines. One day maybe a good painkiller will be developed for us all to rid us of the relentless pain.