We suffer crippling pain, horrendous fatigue, hot swollen joints, immobility, falls, frustration, isolation and when you begin to struggle with daily tasks such as going to the toilet, getting washed, getting dressed and making a cup of tea it can literally feel as though your life is falling apart. I am lucky, I have a hubby who is amazing and will do absolutely and literally anything for me, but when I had an occupational therapist assessment the other year and were told that our house, the home we had made to raise our children, was no longer safe for me to live in, I felt completely lost. Imagine being told that, the home you have bought, have ploughed all you money into is not safe. Thankfully my Occupational Therapist is pretty clued up. My assessment was very thorough and she provided me with a prescription for a number aids that would help me. However not everything is available on prescription and we are not in the position to be funding adaptions such as stair lifts, wet rooms and step lifts.
There is funding available through your local council called the Disability Funding Grant. It is a means tested grant but any help is better than no help at all. For me it was a long a drawn out process and one that I have spoken about before previously in this blog. Without it I would be stuck indoors with little independence unless I have someone with me. The DFG has funded an amazing step lift at the front the house which means I can get out safely with my wheelchair. It has also funded a stair lift for me to use. My wonky body means that I fell down the stairs on a regular basis.
Its not just the big things like stair lifts and step lifts that someone with Arthritis may need. There's little things that make a big difference like cutlery. Regular knives and forks are difficult to use when your hands are stiff and painful. When I was looking for suitable cutlery I was disappointed to find that arthritis friendly cutlery look like kids cutlery and there is no hope of cutting your meat up with a blunt knife! My talented hubby saw my frustration and embarrassment at having to use these knives and forks and made my own set. Opening cans was impossible until we got a battery operated can opener. Standing in the kitchen is hard when your legs don't work properly but the addition of a perching chair has meant that I can supervise what is happening in the kitchen. Raised toilet seats and frames mean that I don't have to ask my hubby to take me to the toilet. Having a bath board across the bath enables me to have a shower sitting down, although I still need help from my hubby to help wash, dry and dress. The things that most people take for granted are like climbing a mountain for someone with arthritis. Here are just a few of the aids and adaptions that I need every day
I will be speaking at the Houses of Parliament in a couple of weeks to highlight the need for aids and adaptions for those who have any of the many forms of arthritis. These adaptions can make the difference from being independent and living a full life to being isolated and restricted. If you could please invite your MP to the reception, to hear my experience of living with rheumatoid arthritis for 26 years. Just follow this link http://action.arthritisresearchuk.org/page/25362/action/1
Now I know my home looks a bit odd and more like a care home for the elderly and its taken a long time for me to get my head round the fact that I need all this help, but now my home is safer (I still have falls but they are reduced) and I feel useful, fulfilled and no longer as isolated.
