A senior leader in education, Graham, age 51, was diagnosed in 2019 with osteoarthritis and hip dysplasia. He talks about his personal journey and his aim to stay fit and active into old age.
Being active and enjoying sport is in my blood, I have been involved in a huge range of sports from a young age, competing at national level and professionally as a coach and trainer. However, since I can remember I have always experienced pain – in my teenage years it was dismissed as growing pains.
It was only natural that sport featured in my chosen career, and I qualified as a PE teacher along with picking up various coaching certifications in different sports and as a gym instructor over the years.
The pain I was experiencing seemed to get worse as I moved up the career ladder into a more senior, desk-based and stressful jobs. I gave up one position because this, along with a long commute, which I realised was detrimental to my health.
Over the years it became more difficult to fit exercise alongside high-pressure senior teacher/deputy head roles and by that time being a parent too. Things began to accumulate, and I went into a downward spiral, I ended up cancelling my gym membership, was highly stressed, hyperventilating and having panic attacks.
I knew that I needed to get back to my exercise and my sport, but I found I experienced injuries every time I went back to training. In retrospect I was probably going in too hard, too fast with too high expectations.
Over the years I have tried to vary my sports when pain in one area of my body forced me to abandon activities such as cycling, mountaineering, and kayaking.
By the summer of 2019 I was in so much pain and living off co-codamol that I finally got my GP to refer me to hospital for a second opinion. It was here I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis and hip dysplasia, and I saw a consultant about surgery.
I thought I might try something gentler and started yoga in January 2020 but was in agony. I ended up telling my instructor that “Everything from the eyebrows down hurts!”
Then lockdown happened and I was one of the fortunate ones as this changed my life for the better.
As a keyworker I was required to be in school, but facing the huge challenge of re-thinking how we worked to continue to provide education to children at home and at school. I decided to start up online home fitness classes for pupils and their families. Because of different fitness levels, I had to cater for those with low levels of movement – I had my light-bulb moment! I took the time to research areas of exercise I had never explored before including passive stretching and found that these really worked for me too!
Although continuing to rely on pain medication, I began to feel better and fitter through doing these online classes for my pupils and their families.
After a long gap I was finally able to return to see my surgeon after lockdown. Looking at the original scans they were amazed that I had the level of fitness, mobility and flexibility I had compared with what they would expect. My surgeon recommended I hold off having surgery and to just “Keep up what you are already doing”.
I have continued this self-exploration into other areas of my health and how I can maximise my physical fitness within the boundaries of my arthritis. I have always eaten a healthy diet but now include intermittent fasting and ensuring good hydration. I also prioritise my mental health and study meditation and NLP and am an advocate of bare foot shoes.
“Exercise is key for me in managing my arthritis. I love my sports, but I have to ensure I include some gentle exercise, stretching is very important. Self-management means taking control and finding what works for me”
My ultimate goals now are to live for today but also to ensure I stay fit and healthy so I can experience good quality of life well into old age. I have laid the groundwork and intend to be consistent in following a regime to allow me to maximise all that life offers. I may even try to fit in black belt martial art qualification before I reach 60!