Road to Hong Kong

[Philip]

Like Bob Hope and Bing Crosby (and Dorothy Lamour), I am on the road to Hong Kong.
Having lived for 46 years in England (28 of them in London), I am three months away from a new job and a new life in Hong Kong in August. A year ago, I would not have imagined that I would be making such a life-changing decision. That's what China does to you. I am a naturally cautious person, so why do I feel no fear about uprooting myself from everything that is familiar?
My wife has recently got a job in a cake shop in her home town. She works 10 hours a day for very low wages. It was the only kind of work she could get for the three months to August. She says that most jobs with decent wages required her to commit to at least a year. I admire her. I hope that she will be able to get a job when we are living in Hong Kong, though there is no hurry. She would like to work there. I am not sure what prospects she has, being a Mandarin speaker, with little knowledge of Cantonese.
I think she is finding this separation harder than I am. I get strength from the emotional security of being sure of our relationship and from our marriage. I really miss her though. But she finds the physical separation very difficult to cope with. She finds it hard to sleep. She is alone with her worries. Talking with her every day only goes so far. For her, talking is a pale substitute for us being together.

[Martin]

Philip...its been a lot of fun following your story since you first joined us here.  I wish you the best of luck in this new endeavor to Hong Kong.  It must be exciting and a little scary at the same time.  But, at least you will be with your wife all the time.  I am happy for you.

[ttwjr32]

Philip,

Sara and I wish you well and much success in your new adventure. I to was a little apprehensive when i sold my
house and everthing had to come here. But in all honesty i havent regretted the move one bit and i think you will
feel the same. Good luck and sounds like you have a winner with your wife. When your here give me a call and maybe
we can get together at times whether here in Guangzhou or Hong Kong. Best Wishes

Ted and Sara

[Willy The Londoner]

Like Bob Hope and Bing Crosby (and Dorothy Lamour), I am on the road to Hong Kong.

Philip I can see you as Bing Crosby, suave and sophisicated.  And there is no doubt who Dorothy Lamour is.

But who is playing the part of Bob Hope?

Willy

[Philip]

Hi.
My wife has rheumatoid arthritis. She is 36, which I think is a little young. She has been suffering a lot of pain in her legs recently. She is over the worst now. She has only recently told me about it. She was worried that I would leave her. I told her I would never leave her. A load has been lifted from her mind and she is much happier.
Her doctor has been particularly useless. From what I understand from Western treatments, there are drugs you can take to ease the pain, and different drugs you can take to reduce the long term damage caused by bone erosion. Her doctor has given her drugs to ease the pain, which have been ineffective, and has told her that rheumatoid arthritis can be 'cured', which I know it cannot.
When we are in Hong Kong, I would like to take her to a Western doctor, to find out about Western treatments, some of which have had a good success rate. Does anyone have any advice about what I should do. I am not against Chinese medicine, but do you know about its effectiveness, particularly with regard to arthritis. I don't want to wait years while she undergoes ineffective treatment, when I can get things started in the next few months with a treatment with a proven track record in the West.

[mustfocus]

Sorry to hear about that Philip.  It does sound like she's a little young for arthritis... from what I have read and understood, there's not too much you can do.  But having a second opinion of any type might not hurt.  Depending on where the arthritis actually is, she might do well with stuff like glucosamine capsules (could be expensive there).  I really hate to suggest painkillers because in my experience, if you use them too much, you're going to need more and more as they become less effective.  Also keeping her stress levels down might help (now that the load is off her mind)...

(Note, I'm not a doctor, just got this much from what I have read in the past)

[David5o]

Philip,

Get a second opinion, It may not be rheumatoid arthritis at all, but a circulatory problem. Rheumatoid arthritis almost always normally starts in the joints of the hands, and progresses to other extremity joints from there, but there are always exceptions of course....

My late wife's father suffered from knee joint rheumatoid arthritis, part of his treatment was an injection of gold/oil into each joint, every 6 months, ....or as he used to say  he's ''oil change service''  seemed to make life much better for him anyway...

David....

[Arnold]

Philip , it happens I'm not a Doctor either . But , I can tell you that 36 seems young to have rheumatoid arthritis .. but I had to deal with it ( well my late Wife actually did ) . As we were Married , she was 36 the same age as your Wife and as I now remember .. she had always the problem with her back way back then . Had it checked some years ( 2 or 3 ) by our Family Doc and it also turn out as rheumatoid arthritis of the Spine . So she had to deal with this for the 30 years we were married til her passing 3 years ago . She used Pain-killers of different kinds
( prescriptions ) and lived with it .. as it always had it's up's and down's in Pain . Just like the weather , which had a lot to do with it ( especially the cold ) how bad it was .
 Anyway , it can be an aweful thing to watch your Lady in Pain . Most she can do is just rest and stay off her feet till she feels better .

[maxx]

I would definitely get a second opinion. You can get Rheumatoid Arthritis at any age.Ive known a couple of teenagers who showed symptoms of the disease when one turned 12 the other one started showing symptoms at 18.It seems to have something to do with genetics.And with what the person ate when they were in there formative years

[shaun]

Phillip,

Most of the people I know who have it just deal with the pain.  It if is a joint I do know a few who swear but WD 40.  Now don't laugh.  They tell me the oil penetrates the skin and lubes the joints.  I don't know how true it is but like I say there are 2 I know of that swear by it.

[David5o]

Shaun,

Are you ''Serious''.ALL Oils derived from petrochemicals are ''toxic'' to the human body!! I wouldn't mind taking a bet out , that the workers at the WD40 Processing and packing facility wear protective clothing, especially on there hands.

Well you don't die from Rheumatoid Arthritis, but there's a bloody good chance you can die from the toxin build up from rubbing in WD40 onto your joints!!!! ....hahaha!!!

David.....

[Philip]

Hmm. WD40. Might have to get a second opinion, from my local mechanic.
I appreciate The Wizard of Oz as much as the next person, but my wife isn't the Tin Man. You can't just oil her joints and hope she'll run off and defeat the Wicked Witch of the West. Plus, unlike the Tin Man, she'll all heart.
Anyway, thank for all the good advice from the non-doctors. You make more sense than her doictor!

[Arnold]

Hmm. WD40. Might have to get a second opinion, from my local mechanic.

Well Philip , here is your Mechanic's advice . I go with David5o on this one and save the WD40 for my Work .

[maxx]

I'm with David and Arnold on the WD40.It won't hurt you today.It wont hurt you tomorrow.But it will definitely get you in the near future.It is called over exposure.That stuff keeps building up in your body.And it can and will cause serious health problems latter in life.

[Vince G]

   There can't be anyone that really assumes that WD40 would penetrate though the skin to the joints? It's got to be a joke? If anything, what needs to be taken is Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM to support healthy joint functions. Glucosamine is a amino sugar that helps support cartilage and the flexibility of joints.