Texas
Arthritis Foundation
2008 Bell County Hero
Lynette Gainey
Being well enough to walk 3 miles in the Arthritis Walk was always a dream of mine. I was 19 when the chronic pain from Osteoarthritis became unbearable. I went for years without treatment because I was told that I had a bruised knee. So I kept waiting for it to heal. It never did. Over weight most of my life put an extreme amount of pressure on my knees. I would fall down a lot because my knees gave out. I did what I knew to do. I propped my knees on pillows, I massaged them with Ben Gay and Icy Hot, and I had acupuncture, nothing would make the pain stop. The medicines that were available for arthritis pain did not work. The pain continued to worsen. I went through the mill of doctor?s who didn?t know how to treat arthritis and those afraid to give proper pain medicine because they did not believe you were in ?that much pain?
I was 33 when I had begun receiving treatment on a regular basis. In 1998 after falling down 12 steps and breaking my ankle along with torn ligaments, a metal plate and 5 screws were placed in my ankle. I had an ankle to thigh cast and was in bed for 4 months. When my ankle healed after being in bed for that length of time with no movement of my arthritic joints, I could not stand or walk. I was in a wheel chair and I had to learn to walk again. After 2 months of walking in a heated pool I was able to walk a few feet at a time; however, the pain was excruciating.
When I moved to
