Learning, Living and Love
If you have found The CPPD Blog, you have been searching for answers ever since your diagnosis. Guess what, there is not a whole lot of information out there. And why not, most people affected are over the age of 60, but mostly prevalent if you are older, and you could have a 50% chance if you live into your 90's to show symptoms. I was diagnosed at the age of 54.
Also, if you are like me, it came as a complete shock. Given the extent of doctors and diagnosis over the years, to know that you have a Chronic Degenerative Disease at a fairly young age is a tough pill to swallow. Finding out I had CPPD came after a long journey of pain and recovery.
In 2001, I tripped and crushed my T-7 vertebrae. This led to a year of pain while working as a Branch Manager at a bank for 15 years. Finally they thought it would be best to fuse vertebrae's 4-9 in a painful surgery that took a year to recover from. Then a year later after still having chronic pain they operated again to remove all the bells and whistles (metal) in my back.
From 2001 to present I have been in a battle of chronic pain. I spent years laying on a couch taking Oxy Contin and Percocets. My pain doctor said many people work on these medications, I found it very difficult. After my second surgery, my Bank laid me off, sending my life's future into serious doubt.
I had Cobra, a buyout and hope that I would heal and get better. But when my cobra ran out, I could no longer afford the pain medications that I had been taking for years.
I went cold turkey just like John Lennon. The medication is so addictive that I would have dry heaves in the morning until I took it. When I went cold turkey, I was strung out for a week. I eventually had to sell my condo and move into New Haven so as to live off my proceeds, try to heal and to try to get disability.
Over this period I gained about 40 pounds and the emotional toll was overwhelming having no family or friends at this point to help. Stress, anxiety and pain were constants in my life.
Fortunately for me, I was able to eventually get disability and the free fall of income going out and none coming in was over. However, living on disability is not easy, but I had some assets left, enough to make me feel better about my life and getting healthier.
In 2007 I joined New Haven Fitness, at gym in my home city of New Haven, Connecticut. I only joined for 3 months because I had no idea what I could do and if anything could help. And I went on a strict diet, no more than 2500 calories a day and I started going to the gym 7 days a week.
I was an all-american athlete in High School, so it wasn't like I didn't train before. I also was an avid runner which ended after my back fracture. But I found that on the eliptical, I could achieve my old runners high... one that helped me greatly with my anxiety and the other was the weight loss.
I shed 48 pounds. I was basically a new person! Dropping my banker suits and growing out my locks, I basically was not even recognized by people who had not seen me in a while. I started working out with a trainer at the gym and I was in better shape than ever in my life at 48 years old. However, I had picked up smoking after a messy divorce and still had that bad habit to break, which I did when I turned 50 years old. I turn 55 in January.
I met a woman in the park on one of my first walks with my blind Italian Greyhound, Zippy. We eventually started dating and married in 2008. I had a life again, full of new friends in a great neighborhood, and a beautiful understanding new wife.
I started showing symptoms of fibromyalgia not diagnosed yet around 2004. After getting several painful injections in my hips and shoulders from my orthopedic doctor, he sent me to an Arthritis specialist when my fingers and hands were affected. By 2008, I had full blown fibromyalgia, pain in all the tender points. I read the little manual and I had just about every symptom to a tee.
So, I kept going to the gym as exercise is a great defense for Fibro pain. Slowly, over the past 4 years the pain was increasing in my joints, the stiffness and sometimes mysterious redness would appear practically anywhere on my body... near joints.
In 2009, I discovered in an annual physical that the heart murmur I had all my life was in fact a hole in my heart called ASD. My heart doctor said I was lucky that I found it before a heart attack or stroke hit me, that is usually how they find them after the fact.... I was lucky. I had heart surgery almost 2 years ago.
Then just this year, after Christmas one of my knees was very stiff and painful. I swelled up so I thought I might have tweaked it at the gym. But no, the Orthopedic drained it and the rest is as they say history. Once the fluid was analyzed, I was told I have CPPD, or Calcium Pyrophosphade Dihydrate Deposition Disease.
So what does it mean when you get this diagnosis, what makes it better or worse and what can you take for it... those were answers that I wanted to find out. And I am still working at it as the disease makes every bit of my life more challenging.
Since I am retired and I love photography I started a blog that has become somewhat popular here in New Haven and is read across the globe. So I thought, well I am a Blogger so I might as well Blog!
But the thought about just talking about pain all the time seems a bit redundant, I plan on having a more optimistic take on this and life... perhaps this Blog will help me cope and if you have found your way here then I hope it can help you too. And I would love for people to share their stories of success and what works for them.
And if you want some smiles and giggles, follow my Wooster Square Blossom Blog, the world's first Photoblogumentary!
Fortunately for me, I was able to eventually get disability and the free fall of income going out and none coming in was over. However, living on disability is not easy, but I had some assets left, enough to make me feel better about my life and getting healthier.
In 2007 I joined New Haven Fitness, at gym in my home city of New Haven, Connecticut. I only joined for 3 months because I had no idea what I could do and if anything could help. And I went on a strict diet, no more than 2500 calories a day and I started going to the gym 7 days a week.
I was an all-american athlete in High School, so it wasn't like I didn't train before. I also was an avid runner which ended after my back fracture. But I found that on the eliptical, I could achieve my old runners high... one that helped me greatly with my anxiety and the other was the weight loss.
I shed 48 pounds. I was basically a new person! Dropping my banker suits and growing out my locks, I basically was not even recognized by people who had not seen me in a while. I started working out with a trainer at the gym and I was in better shape than ever in my life at 48 years old. However, I had picked up smoking after a messy divorce and still had that bad habit to break, which I did when I turned 50 years old. I turn 55 in January.
I met a woman in the park on one of my first walks with my blind Italian Greyhound, Zippy. We eventually started dating and married in 2008. I had a life again, full of new friends in a great neighborhood, and a beautiful understanding new wife.
I started showing symptoms of fibromyalgia not diagnosed yet around 2004. After getting several painful injections in my hips and shoulders from my orthopedic doctor, he sent me to an Arthritis specialist when my fingers and hands were affected. By 2008, I had full blown fibromyalgia, pain in all the tender points. I read the little manual and I had just about every symptom to a tee.
So, I kept going to the gym as exercise is a great defense for Fibro pain. Slowly, over the past 4 years the pain was increasing in my joints, the stiffness and sometimes mysterious redness would appear practically anywhere on my body... near joints.
In 2009, I discovered in an annual physical that the heart murmur I had all my life was in fact a hole in my heart called ASD. My heart doctor said I was lucky that I found it before a heart attack or stroke hit me, that is usually how they find them after the fact.... I was lucky. I had heart surgery almost 2 years ago.
Then just this year, after Christmas one of my knees was very stiff and painful. I swelled up so I thought I might have tweaked it at the gym. But no, the Orthopedic drained it and the rest is as they say history. Once the fluid was analyzed, I was told I have CPPD, or Calcium Pyrophosphade Dihydrate Deposition Disease.
So what does it mean when you get this diagnosis, what makes it better or worse and what can you take for it... those were answers that I wanted to find out. And I am still working at it as the disease makes every bit of my life more challenging.
Since I am retired and I love photography I started a blog that has become somewhat popular here in New Haven and is read across the globe. So I thought, well I am a Blogger so I might as well Blog!
But the thought about just talking about pain all the time seems a bit redundant, I plan on having a more optimistic take on this and life... perhaps this Blog will help me cope and if you have found your way here then I hope it can help you too. And I would love for people to share their stories of success and what works for them.
And if you want some smiles and giggles, follow my Wooster Square Blossom Blog, the world's first Photoblogumentary!
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to follow the blog posts. One thing I noticed about people who did blog didn't keep it up. But like I said, I am a blogger so they will be consistently at least about once a week. Short sweet and full of any
information that I find in my search answers and how to deal with a life of painful arthritis.....
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