What would YOU do if your Doctor told you that the arthritis in your neck which was restricting your throat was also squeezing your spinal cord and therefore you should IMMEDIATELY give up your favorite sport of Windsurfing (or whatever) because you could end up a paraplegic?

Would you
A. Give it up
B. Stop wearing your life jacket, that way if your spinal cord snaps you"lll drown (better option than paraplegic)
C. Just continue as if she/he didnt say it anyway
D. Take up an alternative sport .....but what can compare?

At the moment I am windsurfing 3 to 4 times a week and am really strong and fit.
And LOVING it.
S.A.

^ what thommo said...and to add...

...I reckon there'd be a few paraplegics that would argue that life albeit without the use of limbs is better than death.

(1) second opinion from an expert in spinal cord stuff
(2) consider vertebrae fusing op? ...... won't be able to move your neck as much but can still windsurf etc

Stoneage,

I badly injured my back at work last January and had to have an operation on it. My physio said I shouldn't windsurf anymore. After a few months rest I'm getting out there again and everytime I windsurf my back feels better afterwards than when I began.

So as with the above, get a second opinion and possibly ask what actions in windsurfing is aggrevating the arthritis. I doubt there is much movement in the next during windsurfing that doesn't happen in normal day to day life.

Its best not to seek medical advice on an Internet forum but the advice given above is great, get a second opinion.

get many opinions from people in different fields.

my friend who has played tennis all his 50 years had pain in hip area. was told by g.p he will need two hip replacement ops if he continues to play. he was devastated....went to i think a chiropractor, his movement was out of alignment . has been walking,running a different way and now feels no pain.

perhaps when you sail, use a smaller sail, bigger board combo. this smaller sail should reduce the stress/force on your body.

become a health freak, eat organic food only.

listened to great interview from preventdisease.com/home/home.shtml

he tested organic apple and non organic apple and found organic apple had 4 times the neutrient level of non organic. it would not surprise me.

type superfoods into y/tube, may help to improve your general health and problem.

cut,burn and drug is orthodox medicine.....stay as far away from that as you can and goodluck and keep w/surfing.

c,b +d stands for cut=surgery...burn=radiation...drug=pharma poison.

If it's turning your neck so you can look forward, that's causing the problem. A sliding harness bar could help, this allows you to twist the whole body, so the neck doesn't have to turn any where near as much.
I use a DaKine seat harness, it has the option of converting to sliding bar, when I did this, my neck felt much better after a long session.

Stone Age,

I feel for you, giving up something you live for is fing hard to do, I know I have had to do it.
But first get 2nd,3rd,4th,.............medical opinions until you find the one your happy with or happy with the person giving the opinion.
But if you must give it away, here's what I did.

In the beginning of the end, I would load up the van head down to the beach,rig up and drag the gear to the waters edge, sit on the beach for awhile to recover, get out for 100m or so, totally exhausted lungs screaming for air, fall of, sit on board and recover, try to water start couldn't get up, to hard, drift back to the beach, pack up, go home crying and swearing my head off.

After doing this a number of times, I decided to sell all my gear as quick as possible
(someone got a good deal) I also didn't go anywhere near the beach when the wind was really kicking in. I would still get that feeling when the wind was blowing but I didn't have any gear. After a couple of years I lost that feeling and even started to get pissed off with the strong winds blowing across my back deck. I basicly didn't think about anything to do with the wind or ocean. Initially it was like a big mind game between my head wanting to do it and my body saying foff. Eventually the body persuaded the head to change its way of thinking.

My story is a little different to yours as I have been fortunate enough to be able to start sailing again, but I have always fouund that hearing about other people and how they handle things helps to clear the head( if you disagree, I'm happy for you to tell me to foff) Stay positive and keep smiling

ps
I have cystic fibrosis(a genetically inherited lung disease) and until july2004 my last sail was in 2000.
I had a double lung transplant in April 2004.

It would not have been possible without the generousity of my donor and his/her family.

Sorry to anyone who thinks this is way to deep or heavy for these threads

lungs....''i had a double lung transplant in 2004''.

and to think i get frustrated/angry/psycho sometimes, when i get a bad call from umpire when playing squash.

Hey S.A.,

A second opinion, even a third opinion is always a good idea. You may not get a different prognosis, but you might find a Doc who will say, OK this guy wants to windsurf, what can we do for him that will reduce the risk? Alternatively be prepared for the same opinion. When/if you seek a third opinion, tell them you've only come to see if they know of a way for you to keep sailing with minimal risk. Also make sure they are the best in their field, do your homework first.

I've got a progressive ataxia (balance, strength disorder) and if no more windsurfing meant I wouldn't end up in a wheelchair, I'd quit windsurfing today. Thats me and different circumstances, but I know there are other things than windsurfing. My Doc also told me to keep windsurfing was dangerous, but I've seen enough Docs to know they have to be cautious. So I said I'm going to keep windsurfing and I'm doing a, b & c to keep me safe. He thought about it and though he didn't say OK, he didin't say no! So whilst I can I sail, crash, sail, crash, sail, crash, crash, crash and love it. So don't forget or stop telling the Docs what you want, there may be a way.

Definitely option D if all else fails.