TAKE UP THY BED AND WALK - On a Lighter Noter Part II

I wonder if it is indeed possible to cure diseases with 'mind over matter'.  I have been curious about this for many years.  Approximately 10 years ago, I got psoriasis on the front of my shins.  It was itchy and unsightly during the summer, and I made my mind up, I was not having it!  I had major financial and emotional problems going on at the time, so I growled at it and told it to feck off and get in line.

It seemed to work, the rash would flare up occasionally, but I stood my ground.  Nope, I was not having it and that was that.  I was reading a lot about witchcraft and psychology at the time, and thought, yeh, that will work.  Its like when you watch one of those crazy evangalist church ceremonies, when people all sing and clap, when the  stricken are made to get up out of their wheelchairs and walk again.  I sometimes wonder if the lazy bastards might just have been pulling the wool over everyone's eyes for past 20 years and the greater attention of being a walking miracle was just too tempting? 

However, I am not sure if I should be writing to the Pope just yet, because my googling reveals, that it seems long periods without symptoms are common, and the word 'common' put me right off. 

I never ever used to mention my aches and pains when my mother was alive, mostly because I couldn't get a word in edgeways.   If I phoned to tell her I had a cold, she would tell me she had an ambulance on its way, with a helicopter on standby. 

I am not sure if my recent hypochondria is related to real pain or the fact that I think I am now possessed by the naughty spirit of my mother and I think her 'feck 'em' ideology should be right up there with Descartes' 'I think, therefore I am'.  I am not quite sure what that has to do with the price of chips, but I think 'feck' was the key word, as in 'feck off disease'.  Excema tried creeping up on my fingers once, years ago, and I was having none of that either. 

However, there are indeed many proactive things you can do to prevent arthritis from becoming worse.  Have just had a very interesting conversation with a young vetenary student who has just done a thesis on arthritis in horses.  She was giving me some very useful advice, gentle exercise, vitamins, keep the joints warm, until smartass son asked if the advice came with a shotgun and a tent? 

I have decided to follow her advice nonetheless, but would add, that I had no intention of jumping fences, nor standing in the middle of a field in the rain.