Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion Sporting ASKickers I went fishing Saturday

It has been 14 months since I last had the boat in the water. It is only a 12 foot tinny with a 15 hp outboard. I got the boat out on Friday ,fired up the motor, pumped up the tires and loaded all the fishing gear. Then I nearly collapsed. The pain I stirred up was no match for the low dose of Targin that I have just started. I was planning to be up at 5 am Saturday and be on the water by six. Well six finally became nine before the boat slid into the water. I love fishing. and I like to fish hard specially lure casting. I have to do all of my fishing sitting . It is not wise to stand up when you have severe neuropathy in both legs. I fall over so much I need a crash helmet. Well after six hours of fishing and several minutes of catching as well as a lot of abuse yelled at stupid jet skiers, I decided it was probably best for all if I went home. When I got to the boat ramp it became evident that I was unable to stand up. Sitting in a hunched position is not wise for AS sufferers. I eventually half staggered,half fell out of the boat and took fifteen minutes to reach the car and trailer parked a good thirty meters away. For those who have never suffered neuropathy there is an area in your feet and legs where the dead nerves suddenly give way to very live nerves. The contact of bitumen and gravel is transformed to jagged lava rock by the time it hits the live bits. I am not entirely stupid , a few years back I fitted my trailer with an electric winch. Twenty years ago I would have dragged the boat on by hand. Now I have just enough energy left to push the switch. It took at least half an hour to get the boat secured. By this time I was ,at least, wearing shoes. Got home Looked and felt like the hunchback of notre damme. Washed and unhooked the boat staggered inside and took another tagin.If anyone is interested in a cheap boat,,,please ring...Ron

Hope you still had fun, among all the trials. I used to fish in the river here, but have not been in several years.

Sorry to hear about the painful trip. If you can get the AS under control, maybe you can head back out.

My father had AS for 40+ years when he died... but he did a lot of fishing after he got it under control. Had fused back and neck... but we fished for panfish and walleye typically. Dad some some problems backing up car with trailer.. but he managed.

Hopefully you can get better.

Tim

Thanks Tim ,
I have a combo of advanced AS, psoriatic arthritis and severe neuropathy. I saw my nephrologist last week ( I am on cyclosporine for nephrotic syndrome) and he gave me and my GP the go ahead on increasing targin (oxycodone and noxolone). I saw him this morning and we went up to the next dose. I spent a fortnight on the lower dose to gauge tolerance. No probs so far. If it does not effect my mental ability I will go with it and hopefully get out fishing a lot more. I might have to get one of those selfinflating life preservers tho. Ron.

I guess some people don't learn. I went out fishing again tonight. It got too cold for me around 8.30 pm. I got back to the ramp. I was feeling mighty unwell. I got the boat halfway onto the trailer when the electric winch handle picked up some of the remote cable and jammed the winch. I went from feeling unwell to actively throwing up all over the boat ramp. I eventually got the boat out of the water and onto the trailer. Had a few more dry heaves ,nothing left , don't you hate that. Got home at nine thirty , still don't feel well. It is past midnight now . I really don't feel like going to bed . I know the pain in my upper back is going to keep me awake. Life is really becoming a chore. Ron.

ron-
Hi. Nice to meet you!

I went through that 10-13 years ago. Now I feel like I am going to vomit, but don't. I believe that response to back pain and extreme jaw pain was and still is connected to needing my back aligned right behind my shoulders.
When I lift small weights, out to the side of my shoulders, usually while laying down; I can feel It pop and then I get relief within seconds. There are times I can not get relief.

Keeptrack, of what brings it on. From my opinion, I keep at it. There are times when I have to ask for help. Then there are times I feel good enough to move mountains. The pain is always there tho, sometimes I feel like vomiting.


Did you get the shivers, when you got cold? I have been on a winter elk hunt when I would have died were it not for my two hunters who piled on the bedding and makin something hot to drink.

AS you turn to the future, figure out some things that you can do. Enjoy things that used to seem boring; when I am sick like that, I say my prayers and breath slow.

Keep us posted.

Hi Lon ,nice to meet you too.
This same thing happens a lot particularly when I over do things. I am only 63 but in the last sixteen years I have had stage three colon cancer into six nodes. I had surgery and a year of chemo for that. Not long after recovering I developed acute pancreatitis and eventually lost my gallbladder. I started to suffer from auto -immune kidney disease. They thought they knew what it was and put me on 75mg of prednisone for eighteen months. It did not stop my protein loss and tipped me into type two diabetes. I have had two more kidney biopsies and the dx is auto -immune disease type unknown, origin unknown. I am on cyclosporine after my protein loss reached 7 grams a day, nephrotic syndrome. When I came off prednisone I had a massive flare of psoriatic arthritis and an MRI showed grade 2 AS with several fused vert and lars fractures. My rheumy is happy to let the cyclosporine do what it can for the AS and arthritis. I have lost the nerves in both feet and legs. A neurologist has confirmed the feeling will not comeback. A side effect of the cyclosporine has been that liver functions that have been in the red for years have dropped back to the black . they think it is mild auto-immune hepatitis.
So all in all I am pretty well stuffed. Unfortunately cancer as well as all of the other problems have led me to a solitary life . My wife got sick of me being sick all of the time and asked me to leave. So I live alone and see very few people. All of my fishing friends have died or moved on so I fish alone. I have no complaints in life apart from the fact that I am so limited and frustrated with what I can do.
Every time I get too adventurous I suffer badly for it. trouble is that there has to be more to life than just waiting around to die... Cheers Ron.

Ron- you certainly have had a tough patching over the years. My internal organs remain stable. I had a small heart attack but I am very normal except I have asthma.
I would go fishing with you! I do very little fishing anymore because of expense.
I am sorry your wife was not in marriage for the long haul. You should have let her leave, do you have a house?

I hit the gas and brakes to hard, I do stumble when in the woods. AND people do stare at the way I walk....

Can you find a club or support group?

Hi lon . If I lived a little closer I would take you fishing for free. Unfortunately Australia is a tad far just to go fishing. I lost my house to the property settlement and rent a unit. It means I still have to work. I used to be in clubs , I was the state president of the Aust sportfishing association. Un fortunately cancer seems to put a lot of pressure on old friendships so rather than get stroppy I just keep to myself. I don't know how many times my friends tried to convince me to give up chemo and eat apricot kernels or drink stewed pawpaw leaves. I got tired of telling people I was actually cured of cancer. The response was yeah well you never really get rid of it. So I stick to the only moderately intelligent friend I have ...IE myself. I have a young guy from the cayman Islands as my gp ,perhaps I will ask if he wants to go fishing that would resolve all of my problems ,piscatorial medicare. Cheers Ron.

Ron- Some years ago, I was asked to do a class on friendship for high school youth at summer camp. It was something I wanted to do, yet it really did stretch me to have five 50 minutes classes. It actually turned out to be a very rewarding experience.
We have to be more creative than healthy people, don't we? We have to plan ahead, incase this happens or that happens. I remember going out fishing with a member of my church. He was a very over weight fellow, I was wondering how he was going to lead and unload his boat. I was so surprised at how he could take the boat off his Subaru car, roll it to the dock and off we went. He told me that he ever had a fishing partner, but he kept going fishing.
I wish I could go out with you, talk about life and listen to each other. Do you have children?

what is piscatorial medicare?