My knees don’t like this cold weather

Oh my aching knees!

The weather here in Toronto has been strange this month. January began with a major snow storm, then it warmed up, so much so it seemed very spring like, and then in the last week it’s been like living in the Arctic.

I must be getting older because I’m feeling all these weather changes. Especially when it’s really cold outside. Ok it’s not really aging. I have Crohns disease and it can affect your joints too. I’m sure that’s what it is.

If I’ve been sitting for a while and then have to get up to go upstairs to use the washroom my knees protest. Walking up the stairs really hurts. Of course by the time I’ve been moving around for a little bit knees usually start to feel a bit better, but those first few minutes are bad.

My mom had a bad back and bad knees too. As her pain got worse we started to worry about her walking up and down the stairs. Luckily my parents had set up their home so that they didn’t have to go up and down the stairs all that often, but of course the freezer was in the basement so there would be occasional trips downstairs to get things out of the freezer.

When my father passed away we worried about my mom even more. She got around pretty well – especially when she didn’t have to navigate stairs, but being alone in the house presented new problems. What if she fell on the stairs … there was no one there to hear her fall or to help her.

My husband came up with the idea of installing one of those stair lifts. I think my mother liked the idea, but we could never fully talk her into it.

Now with my knees starting to speak their mind more and more often I almost wish that we’d install a stair lift here. I’m always going up and down the stairs. The main bathroom is upstairs. Now that we have a puppy in the house I’m also going outside and again up and down stairs outside all the time too.

You can bet that if we ever move I’ll be sure to buy a house with a bathroom and maybe even a bedroom on the main floor.