The best thing I ever didsweetmmeblueJune 3 2010, 02:51:13 UTC
was ignore my doctors. I was told that with arthritis I would not be as active as normal kids. This infuriated me and I went after every sport I was interested in except track. I understood that the sort of running that involved would be really bad for my knees. I swam, biked, roller skated (avoided ice skating for the same reason as running), played goalie for soccer, played softball, bowled...
I have no visual evidence of the arthritis and every ortho I've talked to said keeping my muscles strong helped protect my joints.
Teach him to let pain be his guide but not his limitation. He's not impaired but we often learn to avoid heeding pain. Teach him the difference between pain that will cause long term problems and the type you can work through. He can do anything he sets his mind to as long as he respects his body. I could run track if I wanted, as long as I was careful of how much and how I did it. Ok, I could do it better if I was a bit more flat chested too. We all have our limitations. :)
Re: The best thing I ever didrdhdsnippetJune 3 2010, 16:14:01 UTC
*nod* I'm very torn on the soccer/gymnastics thing right now. I pulled him out for the summer because of the fatigue and was just about to let him go back - the long vacation of not having to be anywhere at any particular time did him a lot of good, but I'm also not willing to let him screw his elbow with the gymnastics or the knee with the soccer. I had to carry him across the house last night (and I have no doubt whatsoever that it really hurt that much - he's not prone to exaggeration yet), but then he was jumping on the bed. I don't know if I trust him to know when to say when yet - he is almost only five. :-/
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I have no visual evidence of the arthritis and every ortho I've talked to said keeping my muscles strong helped protect my joints.
Teach him to let pain be his guide but not his limitation. He's not impaired but we often learn to avoid heeding pain. Teach him the difference between pain that will cause long term problems and the type you can work through. He can do anything he sets his mind to as long as he respects his body. I could run track if I wanted, as long as I was careful of how much and how I did it. Ok, I could do it better if I was a bit more flat chested too. We all have our limitations. :)
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Argh!
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