Osteoarthritis

What is it?

Osteoarthritis is a joint disorder that involves the breakdown of joint cartilage. It may affect any joint in your body. People who have type 2 diabetes have an increased risk of osteoarthritis, likely due to obesity — a risk factor for type 2 diabetes — rather than to the diabetes itself.

What are the symptoms?

Osteoarthritis may cause joint pain, swelling and stiffness, as well as loss of joint flexibility or movement.

How is it treated?

Treatment involves exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, caring for and resting the affected joint, physical therapy, and medications for pain. Treatment may also include surgery such as knee or hip replacement. Complementary treatments — such as acupuncture and massage — also may be helpful for managing pain.

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so...did I bring this upon myself being overweight most of my life? Could this condition been avoidable had I maintained a proper weight? The article above from the Mayo Clinic seems to say so.

By the way, today I weigh 207. I've lost about thirty pounds. My last A1C was 6.4 which is a vast improvement from my previous tests. Living down here in the doghouse where I have there's not much food around helps. Being wary of the amount of carbohydrates I intake. I don't have the muscle mass I used to due to my limited physical abilities. But nothing is going to make the cartilage grow back. For that I have to spend the rest of my life in pain.

2022 sucked because this was the year my osteoarthritis on my left hip gotten really bad. To a point where I am in pain and I am having a hard time walking around.

What's going on? I say about twenty years ago I began getting stiffness in my left knee. It didn't bother me too much but I also began having a hard time doing my Gung Fu forms.

A few years later my doctor had me do an x-ray on my knees and said I had arthritis. As the years went on the pain, stiffness was getting worse and worse though I was still able to do things. I began using trekking poles to help me walk better.

I was in the Chinese New Year parade two years ago before the pandemic with the Chinese Railroad workers group and could barely keep up with the parade unit.

I went to Utah for the 150th in 2019 and had a hard time walking and standing for long at the event.

Earlier in the year in March 2022, I took a trip to New York to attend the late Fred Hom's daughter's wedding. Prior to the trip I had a bit of pain and began having a more difficult time walking. I think that was when I began realizing real pain. I was beginning to get the bone on bone pain. Though I was able to still walk a bit.

I brought it up with the doctor and he realized how stiff my left leg has gotten and ordered x-rays. He found osteoarthritis on my left hip. A condition where the cartilage has worn down on my left hip. I was having more of a hard time walking and experiencing pain.

The only way out of this was hip replacement surgery which I found out I was not a good candidate for such a procedure due to venous insufficiency. An operation like that would put me at risk of infection and possibly leg amputation or death if the infection got into my bones. After two opinions from orthopedic doctors I cried.

So...I'm f'd up for the rest of my life.

Sadly Mariposa Cafe is now only a memory. Mariposa has been closed for over six years by the SF Department of Health and it nver reopened. New Lun Ting cafe has roast pork but nothing compared to the lightly seared taste of Mariposa's roast pork. Here's what I came up with trying to replicate Mariposa Roast Pork;

Pork; about five lbs. of boneless pork shoulder. With bone will do fine also.

Seasoning; stab it briskly with a fork for the seasonings to penetrate the pork
liberally sprinkle with salt, granulated garlic, pepper and vegetable seasoning.

Give it a good rub.

Let it sit overnight or at least six hours in the refrigerator.
Allow pork to return to room temperature after taking it out of the fridge.

Lightly coat with olive oil.

Sear; searing gives it a nice outer layer to lock in the flavors of the pork. you can sear the meat on all side in a hot frying pan or in a oven at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, flipping it over and another 15 minutes on the other side.

Roast; 375 degrees. Flipping it over every 20 minutes or so. It'll take about 90 minutes to two hours depending...I use a thermometer till it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Rest; take it out of the oven when it reaches 165 degrees. Allow for it to rest about fifteen minutes before slicing.

Gravy; saute chopped onions and garlic in a sauce pan. Separate as much of the fat as you can and scrape the pan drippings into the sauce pan. Heat up the drippings. in a separate bowl mix pillsbury gravy mix powder with about two cups of water and mix well. Slowly add into the sauce pan with drippings while stirring. A few drops of dark soy sauce for coloring.

Enjoy life.

Deacon John has banned me from the food pantry at St. Andrew's.

I usually arrived late to avoid standing in line since I have an arthritic hip that makes standing for long period uncomfortable.

When I got there no one was there...not even Sonny or Robert or John. The doors were closed. Table of food was left on the out. I thought that everyone was finished for the day and they left the food for anyone to take so I did just that. It was just some plant based Chicken, apples and garlic. I helped myself to the food. I was not the only one. There were three or four other people who showed up and also helped themselves to the food.

Suddenly deacon John appeared from upstairs. He got pissed off that I took food without my asking him. He was talking shit about me stealing. I explained to him that I thought everyone was finished and it was for us to take. But he didn't want to hear my explanation. I even offered to give everything back. He just said 'get out of here!' John whom is black gave me that ghetto shit. I guess that's life in the hood...people always stealing from you. That's life in the hood.

The following Wednesday I showed up to get my regular food pantry pick up. John started talking shit and forbid me to get any food. He said I was banned from the food pantry.

St. Andrew's food pantry is run by one guy. John is seems to be always in a foul mood. He seems to be always power tripping with the food distribution. St. Andrew's is not the only food pantry in the area and there are many food pantries in the city. I'll just have to go to another food pantry. Hopefully on that has convenient parking and handicap friendly.

I've been going to the food pantry since the pandemic. Being on a limited income and going through these rough times. it's been helpful to get food from the pantry.

Another two drugs added to my daily repertoire of meds... pentoxifylline supposedly to improve my circulation in my legs. pentoxifylline

The other is flomax. Flomax .

That makes 14 meds I take a day.

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Dragon at the empress of China building in sf Chinatown [/caption]fylline" target="_blank">

I'm trying to get myself to paint an old dragon head in a Chinatown night.

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It is fall back time again and I find myself in the darkness again. A depressing darkness. Time to turn on the light box again. These times have been tough with the pandemic, osteoarthritis and personal economic depression. I'm broke and in pain!

But hey... things are opening up again. The senior centers are beginning to have sit down lunches again in their dining halls.

Masks are no longer required on buses.

Is the pandemic over? People are still dying from Covid though.

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It was hard to understand what was being said. Too intellectual for me I guess. thanks Linda and Carey Huang for taking me out by there.

as you know I have a hard time walking and carey had a wheelchair for me and I got pushed in a wheelchair for the first time and it felt good. Carey and I are the same age of 70 and here he's pushing me in a wheelchair. But it goes to show that I need a wheelchair! An electric wheelchair. I need a good rollator walker too. I need to raise some money for to purchase it.

Back in 1972 we were Kearny Street Workshop

Doris and Jimmy Yee hosted the 50th Kearny Street Workshop originals reunion. Of course there were a lot more people but many didn’t make it. Yes and a bunch are no longer alive.

I was only nineteen years old when KSW started. I was in my second year at San Francisco State College at the time as an art major. KSW was started by Jim Dong and Michael Chin. It was a Chinatown/Manilatown community arts organization.

In the beginning stages I kept my distance from KSW. I was busy with SFSU and with a lot of other things. Besides Mike said it was going to be my hangout. As much as I tried not to, I naturally gravitated towards the organization being already an artist in the Chinatown community.

I guess it was the time and energy that goes towards organizing a grassroots community arts organization that I didn’t want to devote so much time to. Besides the average person was four years older than me which at that age was quite a gap. I just let them worry about it.

Today I had a appointment at Kaiser for a second opinion regarding my arthritic hip. It has been painful living with it and has really limited my mobility and causing me to become very depressed. The things that I used to enjoy doing I can no longer do so. This did not happen or in a sudden. It has been gradual for the past years. I noticed my left knee beginning to be stiff about twenty years ago. I lived with it. After being on my feet me knee would become very stiff and the bottom would feel tingly.

At the beginning of this year it began getting more and more painful when I walked. I even went to New York for Jennifer and Chris' wedding limping about.

An x ray showed I had arthritis of the hip. The condition got more painful as time went on.

I know a handful of people who have had hip replacement surgery and were able to resume normal lives again. I looked up a lot of information on the internet and seemed modern Western medicine's miracle. It sounds too good and I wanted hip replacement too.

My doctor arranged for me to see an orthopedic doctor and he said I was not a good candidate for this surgery. He said I was entitled to a second opinion though.

I had my primary doctor arrange another appointment with another orthopedic doctor.

I let him look at my leg this time. He said I had a condition called Venous stasis which could bring about complications after surgery such as infection. He said it was like playing around with kerosene and matches.

He shook my hands and as he left the room I cried.

Chronic venous insufficiency, or CVI, is a condition in which veins have problems moving blood back to the heart. It's also known as chronic venous stasis, phlebitis or post-thrombotic syndrome. It most often affects veins in the legs, although it sometimes occurs in the arms.

This pandemic is driving me nuts!

Yes I'm going nuts! And it's hitting me at a time when I am a senior citizen.

There is paranoia. People don't want to come near you. There is rampant crime. I can become a victim.

My health is terrible. My arthritic hip has gotten worse and I can walk around easily. It's painful when I put my weight on my left leg.

Worry about money...I am broke! I can't come up with the money to pay the property tax. I can't come up with the money to pay the property insurance.

My doctor arranged for me to speak to a psychotherapist. There is so many people going nuts nowadays that Kaiser is using an outside source for psychotherapists.

I try to always have at least a knife on me when I go out. This is my Puma knife. I've had it for a long time! My guess is sometimes in the eighties. I bought the knife at Columbus Cutlery. It was about $35 then. About forty years!

The pandemic has made our society worse. Crime has been rampant here in the city. Seems like police are overwhelmed. They are not enforcing the law like they used to. Covid 19 is blamed on the Chinese for causing this pandemic. People are taking it out on the Chinese and Asians by committing violence against Asians. I am Chinese.

Often it's bands of young black kids are targeting asian businesses and asian people. I can easily become a victim as I weakly limp about with my sticks.

So I make sure I at least have a knife on me when I go out. Wish I could carry a Glock. Never know when someone may attack me. I don't want to be a victim. What a fkdup time we are going through. I hate it! It's hitting me in my golden years.

625 Grant Avenue (on the right) was once a chop suey joint shortly after the 1906 earthquake. Then it was a Japanese store for awhile till 1942 when Japanese Americans were forcefully interned in concentration camps. My father took over the store to establish Fueng Wah Company which ran till 1970.

I grew up in that store. We slept in a room right above the store. A mezzanine you can say.

Gddamn imperial arts sign always blocked our sign.

I probably wasn't one year old yet in 1953. I spent probably my first two years of my life being cared for by a white family out in the sunset district.

My mother wasn't able to take care of me while minding the store and my brother who was a year and 3 months older than me.

The family that raised me were the Patterson's on Yorba Street out in the sunset district. I wonder how common was it for Chinese families to do that back then? My sister whom had five kids never did that. My mother throughout played favoritism to my brother over me throughout my life. I wonder if that was a result of me being an extra burden. Don't get me wrong... I loved my mother to her dying day.

I have not walked by the 625 Grant much since the pandemic but I went on Google and punched up 625 Grant to get a picture of it to find that 625 Grant as an address has been totally wiped off the face of the earth. I don't know what is at the location is now. But here's a current Google picture of 625 Grant and the block I grew up on.