What's it all about?

There are so many of us with arthritis, and there certainly are many resources for this degenerative disease. But I have trouble finding the kind of help that I want.

I have severe arthritis (osteo) in my knees and I am starting to feel some form of arthritis in my hands and arms. My knees give me the worst trouble, of course. Several years ago I saw an arthritis specialist to find out if there were exercises or other things I could do that would help me live better with my condition. He told me that the only real solution for me is surgery. Knee surgery is problematic even when one has health insurance, and I don't. I asked him for an estimate of the cost and he said about $50,000 - and that the surgeon's fee would be only a small part of that.

Because I do not have health insurance and am not wealthy I am waiting it out. I might be able to get the surgery when I turn 65 and am on Medicare, but maybe not. In the meantime I need to find a way to deal with life as I am.

Thus this blog. I have done some investigation already and intend to do more. I will post my experiences, as objectively as I can, with various types of treatment. It isn't always possible to separate what is simply a "good day" from a real improvement, so I hope that by recording as much as I can here that I will be able to draw some conclusions down the line. And through this means I hope I can help others as well as myself.