freeze it contest!

I normally don't get sucked into these types of things, but in this case it would benefit my grandmother so I'm relaxing my guard a bit. The makers of Freeze It Gel are sponsoring a contest in which one blogger can win a year's supply of their muscle relief gel. We're supposed to tell the story of someone who can use the muscle and joint pain relief that their product offers. In my case, I may have an occasional sore muscle from my infrequent outdoor adventures, but I'll survive. My grandmother, on the other hand, suffers greatly from severe arthritis in her wrists and knuckles and I would love to give her the gift of happy hands.


My grandmother has been through so much tragedy already that she truly deserves to have a more comfortable and healthy time at this point in her life. When she was young, she was engaged to a young military pilot. They were in love and the future looked promising. Unfortunately, he died in an plane crash before they were wed. Her eyes still water when she speaks of him today, which isn't very often. But she does still have his military "wings" pin.

Fortunately, she met my grandfather several years later and the two of them fell in love, married and had four children. Many years later, when she was enjoying her initial years as a grandmother, she discovered a lump in her breast. She was diagnosed with breast cancer, and had to have a mastectomy. All of the cancer was removed and she lived for another twenty years with excellent health. Then she began to have heart problems and her cardiologist stated that she would have to have surgery. Although the surgery was unavoidable, we were all extremely concerned at the idea of an eighty year old woman surviving open heart surgery. She was sore and weak for a long time after the surgery, but eventually regained her mobility and strength.

Then in 2004, my grandfather started having trouble breathing. He was coughing all of the time, and he eventually was placed on an oxygen tank. Although he had quit smoking thirty years before, the twenty plus years of smoking prior to that had already taken its toll on his lungs. His condition worsened almost overnight. In a matter of several weeks he had lost thirty percent of his body weight and was placed in hospice. We were there at the very end and it was a horrible sight. It is horrible to see a person die from smoking - my grandfather couldn't breathe, he couldn't speak, he was severely dosed with morphine. He was in so much pain. It was as if he was drowning but he wasn't underwater. It was horrible to see my grandmother have to experience that after all she had already been through.

My grandmother is tired. She wishes that she could be with my grandfather in heaven. Early stages of Alzheimer's seem to be setting in. Her short term memory isn't so great, and she suffers from severe arthritis in her knuckles and wrists. Like so many people her age, she takes a candy bowl's worth of pills each day, but requires the assistance of my mother to make sure that she is taking them when she needs to. In fact, she depends on my mother for much of her mobility, as she was in two car accidents since my grandfather passed away and can no longer drive (my grandfather always did the driving).

It pains me to see her suffering so badly from arthritis and joint pain. She doesn't deserve this. She has been through so much pain already, and although she has become a bit weary with old age, she is still the sweetest person I have ever known. She's one of the few people in my life who ever understood the true meaning of unconditional love, and always has a fresh supply. She's also one of the strongest individuals I have ever met, having experienced the loss of one fiance and one husband, and having survived breast cancer and open heart surgery. She is one of two sisters left from a family of eleven children. She is truly amazing. I often wonder how my disposition would have changed had I suffered like she has. I'd rather not think about it though, as I already have a somewhat negative assessment of life and I'm only in my thirties.

Perhaps I'll change my own disposition a bit if this little essay wins her a year's supply of Freeze It pain relief gel and it provides her with some comfort in these golden years.