The Edinburgh-based dancer has spent the last nine years since her first diagnosis and hip replacement surgery, defying arthritis and inspiring people of all ages to live fuller, happier lives. In this three-part series, Lin shares her story with Lifestyle Health Hub; how she overcame the limits osteoarthritis threatened to place on her independence, career and creativity.
Some people discover their natural talents early on and, others, in their third act. Lin Grahame found her gift and passion for dancing in her late twenties. She never anticipated her love of creative movement would safeguard her health and allow her to maintain her lifestyle.
Unexpectedly driven by the need to tackle and manage joint pain in middle age, Lin is now a holistic practitioner. Her journey started with her first dance class, in the late 1970’s. Still connected to the experience that gave her a ‘reason to be’ she explains, “I didn’t just like dancing, I loved it.” She cites her inspiration as contemporary dance pioneers: Martha Graham, Ruth St Denis, Ted Shawn and Margaret Morris.
Soon, the sense of self and happiness Lin experienced from dance became the centre of her life. She trained and carried herself with more self-confidence. When Lin explains how much contemporary dance influenced her, she says, “I thought the grace and ease of movement dancers possessed was down to three things: training, good joints and good alignment. At the beginning, I felt I had none of these.”
She laughs and explains, “But I was determined and knew I wanted to keep dancing because it gave me so much. What I didn’t know then, was that I had arthritis! It didn’t even occur to me that I could have it. I thought, arthritis was something older people developed as time went on. At that time, it wasn’t who I was.
Gradual signs and symptoms of change
Although Lin’s body sent signals arthritis was present, she ignored these, deciding they were related to her starting her training later in life than most dancers. She mistook the pain of osteoarthritis for discomfort caused by over-working muscles and joints.
Lin recalls, “There were some moves and shapes I couldn’t make or do because of inflexibility in my joints.”
In time, Lin’s body seemed to naturally adjust to whatever was needed to complete specific movements. Soon, she noticed a difference, but it took time before she made the connection between physical activity and improved flexibility.
Lin says, “Although I became more flexible the more I danced, without me realising it, my dance classes were helping me self-manage a serious condition I didn’t know I had.”
Years later, when her osteoarthritis was diagnosed, she felt a sense of ending. Freedom of movement was Lin’s identity. Arthritis threatened to change that.
Diagnosis and surgery in NHS Scotland then and now
Lin at an Authentic Artist Collective workshop authenticartist.co.uk. Photo by Kath Burlinson.
By 2010, Lin actively sought diagnosis and treatment and became one of 8.75 million people in the UK, who have had to address the pain of osteoarthritis through surgery. Although Lin now uses physical activity to manage pain, when her arthritis journey started, her consultant determined she needed hip replacement surgery. An active and independent person, Lin found this difficult to process and journaled her experience as a means of making sense of how her life was changing.
Lin is thankful her first diagnosis came when NHS Scotland waiting times were (in her opinion) still reasonable. Nine years ago, she was daunted by the prospect of the invasive procedure but avoided the stress of waiting for extended periods for surgery.
NHS Scotland statistics show, that at the time of Lin’s first diagnosis, 157 people in Scotland waited longer than three months for a hospital consultation. If Lin were seeking support and treatment this year, she would be one of more than 100,000 people with a serious condition having to wait in excess of three months for a consultation.
Lin’s journal allows her to compare the wait between diagnosis and her first hip replacement surgery and time spent waiting for her most recent operation in 2018 to replace her left hip. She is matter-of-fact, recalling, “NHS Scotland then, was not as it is today. At the time, I was seen by a consultant quite swiftly. From my first GP appointment to the surgery, the process was only about eight months. In between, I lived my life.”
Her first surgery was a turning point for Lin and, one she documented at the time. “At 58, I had my right hip replaced at the Jubilee Hospital in Glasgow,” she says. “You’re told what you can expect before you have a procedure but being forewarned doesn’t make you any less anxious. I felt relieved to be given an epidural anaesthetic and a sedative, so I wasn’t awake during the operation.”
Despite a hip replacement being a major procedure, Lin returned home soon after surgery. Being at home without any aids or adaptations to make her flat more accessible, presented a whole set of challenges. She describes losing most of her independence and being limited to simple movements. “I was in hospital for two nights after the operation. After minimal physiotherapy in the form of stair walking, I went home. That’s when things got tricky – especially because I’m used to doing for myself.”
Lin continues, “I could not bend forward at the hip for up to eight weeks. The prosthesis consisted of a ceramic head and metal shaft. At first, psychologically, it felt odd to have something so foreign integrated with my body.”
Lin went back to teaching Pilates, working as a holistic practitioner and dancing. She focused on all the things she enjoyed, aware that she had what she describes as “dodgy knees” and pain that affected her spine. Seven years passed before she faced the prospect of surgery to replace her left hip.
The realisation came on a cycling trip as part of a Spanish holiday when she noticed pain and loss of movement in her hip. Even when she had returned home to Edinburgh and pain reminded her something was wrong, Lin pushed it aside, but she found it wouldn’t keep forever.
By 2018, NHS Scotland was vastly different in terms of even getting an appointment with a GP. Lin admits she should not have put off contacting her GP, but in her opinion getting the process started was difficult by design.
Lin speaks from firsthand experience and expresses her opinion, “The first problem with the NHS in Scotland is GP services.”
“When it all started again for me, patients couldn’t book GP appointments in advance. It could take more than an hour to get through to someone on the phone who then decided if an appointment was necessary. If so, the GP would call back,” Lin explains, recounting the frustration of something that felt like a telephone lottery. Meanwhile, she coped to stay on top of the pain in her hip which could be excruciating and interfered with her work.
“After speaking with a GP and a series of further calls and letters about seeing a consultant, in November, the NHS finally confirmed the wait time was up to 42 weeks!” Lin says. “I was in so much pain and quickly losing range of movement.”
Managing her communications with the NHS to push for the surgery felt like her only lifeline to remain employed and keep up with essentials like her mortgage. Really, life seemed unmanageable with unrealistic waiting times driving a sense of uncertainty.
Lin says of her personal experience, “Discovering there was no guarantee that I would be referred for an operation added to the stress and financial worries. Even if I got that far, I was concerned I might have had to wait another 12 months!”
To feel whole and free
The next chapter of Lin’s life was marked by the impact of arthritis in every area of her life. She felt let down as she had worked so hard to keep fit and healthy as she was self-employed teaching exercise and movement. Her story illustrates how millions of working days are lost across the UK every year due to arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions.
Lin puts it simply, “Needless to say, it is not the best advert for my skills; walking with a limp and unable to perform exercises to demonstrate to people who pay to attend my classes. I was unable to get up and down from the floor easily. It was becoming embarrassing.”
As a self-employed person, the pressure for Lin to keep going was acute, “I was in so much pain. Painkillers like co-codamol made me very tired and contributed to my inability to work well – or on some days, work at all.”
Lin’s dance classes also came to an end, prompting depression and bringing on weight gain. Soon she became physically unbalanced and years of work put in to align her body seemed lost. She was concerned about the strain of extra weight on her back, knees and shoulders.
“I asked myself how long could I continue without surgery? I was concerned about whether my joints would remain strong enough and mobile enough to support the rehabilitation. I wondered if I would ever have the freedom to be myself again.”
Please visit http://www.sanas-ancientwisdom.com/ to find out more about Lin’s role as an holistic health and wellbeing practitioner.
The performance photos were taken by Maria Falconer and capture a piece called “Carry on Dancing” choreographed for Prime dance company by Steinvor Palsson.
