Hi All
Here is my story, well here goes anyway lol.

My name is Louis, I am 56, I started to get pains in my wrist, it would be there for a couple of days then go elsewhere, after quite a while I went to Drs for blood tests. It came back with low grade Rheumatoid Arthritis, then after a few years it went daft lol. Got really bad, was walking with a stick, walking about like an old man lol. I had a young son then, he was about 5ish. So I could not go out on the back lawn playing ball, or running around like most dads do with their kids. He can't remember seeing me working, he always thought I was a lazy bugger lol. Just a joke lol.

In the meantime I still went to work, I was a painter and decorator. Climbing ladders, over roofs, up scaffolding, lot of walking. Using my hands and arms. While doing all that I also suffered with very bad bunions, they were so bad that I had to cut my boots and shoes to let them peep though, my work mates use to laugh at me lol. I could see the funny side, but it was painful even going to work in the mornings, I was on my knees on the way home. After about 3 years of that I went back to Drs, told him that it was getting too much for me. Around that time I had my bunions done, both feet at the same time. Was racing about in wheelchair, my hands were fine then. That happened in 88, I have not worked since. I did go back to work after about three months, but my Arthritis was far to bad by then, so I got signed off again. I was very down after that, cos I use to love my work, that was all I wanted to do was be a painter and decorator, ever since I left school. I just felt useless and not worth living, all I was doing was taking tablets and resting. All this time on my hands and could not do much with it. Got use to it after a while, I was still driving ok. Glad I could still drive, would be lost without my car even now lol.

I've had 6 operations, but nothing replaced yet lol. Just things cut out. My worse operation was when they did the joints in my jaw, took out 2 ribs and put them one each side of my jaw. It worked ok for about 2 years or so, then it started to slip again, so after another 12 months they decided to redo it again. This time it was done differently, they took out some bone from my hip, then broke my jaw behind my back teeth, then extended my jaw forward and filled it in with bone. Nice lol. Was wired up then for about three months, eating sloppy food like baby food. Could not talk properly, I even lost about a stone in weight. Do not recommend lol. But it worked ok. So now I am waiting for my hands to get sorted out, just waiting for appointments to come though. that's all for now.

bye now Louis