I’ve been writing this blog for two and a half years. Three months in I was thrown a little off course by a diagnosis of severe aortic valve stenosis. Two months later I underwent surgery. It is now managed day-to-day by medication and my own approach to keeping fit and healthy. I’d like to say it doesn’t stop me doing what I want to do but I have to be responsible. I have opted out of the next Tough Mudder that my gym is entering. I did it last year to celebrate my one year anniversary of having open heart surgery but the risk of injury during the event is fairly high. I’m on Warfarin and whilst I wouldn’t be concerned with scratching myself on the barbed wire I am wary of getting a head injury. So this time I will take the role of spectator and team photographer.

But two years post surgery what has the most effect on my life isn’t my clicking heart. It is a condition I have lived with for the last twenty years. It is arthritis. The same arthritis that may have caused my heart condition.

I have arthritis in my fingers. All eight of them. And I am also starting to get pain in my thumbs which is most unwelcome. I have psoriatic arthritis. Whilst I no longer suffer from the skin lesions associated with psoriasis I am the unlucky 1:10 that develops the associated arthritis.

It started over 20 years ago in the little joint of the index finger on my left hand. Gradually other fingers became affected. When it became apparent that it was going to progress I was referred to a rheumatologist who confirmed the diagnosis. I was started on medication which slows the progress of the condition down but never halts it.

Having the diagnosis confirmed had a mental impact on me. I had a disease of old people so I must also be old. It took a while to shake this feeling but it never really goes away.

My hands are ugly. They are deformed. They are painful. But they still work. My rheumatologist tells me that when they no longer work the joints can be replaced. But I want to put that off for as long as possible.

If my fingers get cold I want to sob with the pain. The last time this happened was at the top of Snowdon. During the cold months I keep my gloves very close.

Most day-to-day activities also have the potential to cause pain. But the pain is transient so I can count on one (deformed) hand the number of times I have taken painkillers for the pain.

A few years ago my rheumatologist referred me to occupational therapy to advise me on coping with day to day activities. This may seem bizarre when you consider I weight lift.

I have been lifting weights for about four years. Apart from the short period when I was waiting for my sternum to heal. It makes me look and feel good so I’m not going to let arthritis stop me. I can push heavy weights (shoulder press, bench press) without experiencing any pain in my fingers but pulling (dead lift, pull-ups) is difficult and painful. So I use wrist straps to take the pressure off my fingers and onto my wrists. They help but I doubt I’ll ever lift to my full potential. And it can be difficult to move quickly from one exercise to another as putting on the straps takes more than a few seconds. The other thing I am very wary of is how cold barbells and dumbbells can get in an unheated gym. Last year during one cold period I found myself wearing three pairs of gloves to keep my hands warm.

I’m sure some people will be critical of my determination to keep weightlifting but it doesn’t make my condition worse. I just need to make adjustments to accommodate it. And it is well documented how important strength training is in maintaining functional fitness.

Arthritis does impact on my life. It is painful and ugly. But I do, however, consider myself fortunate. I only have arthritis in my fingers. When I experience pain I can just about imagine what life would be like if I had it in other parts of my body and it is not good.