Don, I'm a firm believer that the key to mobility is staying mobile. Glad you're fighting through this!

That is a simple fact and wisdom learned from many who came before us
Motion is lotion and all that

So I had another crazy thought.

With this RA, you never really know if, for example, you need a knee replacement or it is just an RA attack. It was my shoulders last summer/fall, but now it's my knees. Believing I may be on the mend from a direct RA attack, I began thinking about knee replacements. I have had surgeries on both. No meniscus remains in either knee, and I have a good diagnosis of severe Arthritis in both knees.

So, has anyone heard of that Chicken based grease that is injected to fill the joint's inner cavities?

I know here comes the jokes..."Man, you get that stuff injected and you'll be able and willing to chicken out in a fight and run away..."
Heard all of em
But if you have a good one, please share

Back to my reasonin'

I was thinking I could convince a doctor to inject me with the stuff for the summer's upcoming trips. Then as the effects wore off toward the fall, I could opt for one or two replacements and heal over the Christmas holidays. I could avoid all the festivities I don't like anyway and heal up during the nasty cold/wet months.
Be back in the saddle sporting shiny new metal parts for the Alaska trip in 25!

Just some thoughts at the moment, but there just may be some late summer sweet corn there...

Great update 

I was diagnosed after much agony in my early 30’s with gout. Unlike most it’s not in my big toe but was in my knees and elbows. The knees were the worst, crippling me for a week at a time. Thankfully preventative meds keep it at bay almost 100%, sucks getting older.

I feel you! When I have a gout flare-up, it hits my knees as well. Luckily, better living through chemistry has resulted in no issues in the past 15 years.

‭2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV‬
[9] But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Rheumatoid Arthritis can be a bear.

It started affecting me last spring, a little more than a year ago. As the disease took hold it made me an effective cripple. My low point was a morning when I could not get up out of the chair to go to the bathroom. It is an awful disease and it kicked my butt for sure.

It takes months to get an appointment with a Rheumatologist, but through the utter persistence of my wife, she got me in in a week.

I had to undergo a lot of tests. I had studies done on my heart, Liver, and Kidneys. Some of those studies involved minor surgery. I confess starting last May until late this past fall, I was pretty miserable.

The Rheumatologist started dosing me with Hydroxychloroquine, two times a day. The thing about treating RQ is that they are aggressive or else you could suffer permanent joint damage.

I discovered I could take a small dose of prednisone and get 2-3 days of relief. The long-term drugs take at least six months to start to become effective. Luckily, I think I am a little past that point now and hopeful of finding a cure.

I am writing this here because as soon as I started gaining mobility, I started working out, but it has been a slow road. At first, I could only do 10-15 minutes of walking on a treadmill. I could not reach down to the floor or even effectively bathe myself. Yea, it was a bit_h.

As I started getting a little better and then a little bit more, I started walking more. I could not bend my wrist to do even a single pushup! By comparison, I used to do 100!

Well, today, I completed a 4-mile hike, and just yesterday I did a hike up and down 500-foot elevation changes at a place called Benger Mountain. It has been a real struggle, but I am fighting it with everything I have.

At the moment the pain from today's hike is under control after taking three Tylenol, but I am making headway.

I will not give up and hope to fully recover from this crippling disease.

I bet is the post office who dictated the com box.

Bad weld on bad metal.