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I t's that time of year. Time to stand stoic and strong in the face of Labour Day. Time to say so-long to summer. And time to etch out that annual essay: What I did on my summer vacation. Let me understate and say, it's been an... interesting summer. Dear readers, you know how I love summer, so much that my wife and I got an early jump on the season by heading south last spring. Late April found us in Hilton Head, S.C., soaking up summer-like sun and doing summery things. Cycling, gol ng, walking on the beach. Only, I did everything with a measure of discomfort. One of my knees ached and both shoulders were tender. But I soldiered on and we had a great vacation. Eventually, we reluctantly returned home, at which point I took my aches and pains to the doctor who diagnosed me with a bum knee and shoulder tendonitis. Trouble was, I instinctively believed the diagnoses were wrong. The onset/ambush of all that ailed me was too sudden -- one day I was gol ng in Carolina, a mere seven days later I was showing the doctor how I could no longer bend Taking life as it comes -- living with Polymyalgia rheumatica That's Life Guest Contributor 11 | Thursday, August 28, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Andy Juniper my knee or lift either arm. Who blows out a knee and gets tendonitis in both shoulders all at the same time? Honestly, what are the odds? As May progressed, I regressed: losing weight and mobility, every inch of me stiffening up, becoming a sore, shuf ing shadow of myself. For weeks, I was getting less than three hours sleep nightly , such was the discomfort (even the weight of the bed sheets caused pain). It got to where I had trouble getting out of bed. Could no longer bend to tie my shoes or scratch my back if my life depended on it. One day , my chiropractor informed me she could not properly adjust me because "it's like Rigor mortis has set in." Blood work was ordered. The results were funky , indicating some type of auto-immune issue. Now , to wait three months for a rheumatologist appointment. Alas, my daily calls to the specialist's of ce in search of a cancellation paid off. I got an early appointment, and a diagnosis: Polymyalgia rheumatica, an in ammatory disorder. Cause: unknown (could be genetic, could be triggered by a virus). A disorder typically reserved for, ah, a 100-year-old woman. Now, as we say `sayonara' to summer, I believe I'm slowly on the mend. At some point in late July, my body started to rebound. My legs loosened up and I began walking less like a zombie. Still, fatigue remains a factor. My arms continue to ache. And my hands remain semi-useless. Oddly enough, although my health has certainly gone to hell in a handbasket, and there have been days when I felt like I'd been hit by a bus, I've actually enjoyed this summer, the inability to golf notwithstanding. I've remained active (cycling even when I needed a stepladder to get up on the bike) and somehow learned to go against my very nature and take life as it comes, one day at a time, through the ebb and ow of all things Polymyalgia rheumatica. Imagine, a disorder that has managed to make your correspondent... almost Zen. -- Contact Andy Juniper , ajjuniper@gmail.com.