Get in touch! Send your letters to: Inspire magazine, 1 Cambridge Technopark, Newmarket Road, Cambridge CB5 8PB or email here Letters Write In Youve been busy writing to us, tweeting, and posting on our forum this month here are some of your thoughts Putting pen to paper I would like to write to Liz (Letters, Inspire Winter 2017). I have a bit of osteoarthritis and have quite a lot in common with her. I trained as a state registered nurse in the late 1960s, and specialised as a community district nurse. I joined Arthritis Care this year and enjoy reading the magazine very much. I am in my 70s and have a husband and two children. They have families who live away. I enjoy going to my art class and have also been studying art history with the U3A. Thank you for forwarding this letter, and my best wishes to Liz I hope she gets some lovely, interesting pen friends. I can also do snail mail. Sarah, via email Letters be friends My name is Yvonne and I am 76 years old. I have had a congenital spinal condition plus osteoarthritis all my life. I am a widow with four children, and I have four grandchildren. I should love to have a penfriendship with Liz (Letters, Inspire Winter 2017). I particularly enjoy writing snail mail, as I have several longstanding pen pals, and I enjoy writing. However, email is also fine with me. Yvonne, via email water good idea I read the article on upper body exercises with interest (Give your health a lift, Inspire Winter 2017), as Im shortly having a reverse shoulder replacement and want to strengthen my shoulder muscles in preparation.The article didnt mention the benefits of water exercises and swimming as a help. We in the Chester Arthritis Care branch are very lucky, as we enjoy twice weekly hydrotherapy sessions with an instructor. We have the triple benefits of a very warm pool, our body weight supported by the water, and exercises against the resistance of the water. Its a lot of fun, too, and for those like me who have always swum for both exercise and pleasure, its been a great way to help beat the arthritis blues, and make new friends as well. Carol Tarr, Cheshire what youre tweeting What does a chronically ill person look like? Living with a condition, which often has no visible symptoms, can create many challenges. We wanted to share this great blog with you after hearing your comments earlier on: The Complexities of Living With an Invisible Illness, http://bit.ly/2j291Zl@ arthritiscare 1/3. Few posts to get my point across. An interesting thought, as I have commented a fair bit about invisible illness before, is that is my illness ACTUALLY invisible or is it just others who refuse or cant see it? Even worse when you are young and not statistically of concern... 2/3. My issues began in late 20s and even doctors all over brush you off thinking of your age how it couldnt be that bad. Then one day they finally do an X-ray at the urging of a periodontist who was being seen for unrelated issue but talking about the pain he knew right away... 3/3. Temporomandibular Joint Disorder corrections are as simple as a night mouth guard for bruxism to actual TMJ joint replacements, which they dont really do anymore finally get X-ray, which rec MRI for more subtle pathology and then it shows they cant even see my TMJ disc @JohnMikeDavison Me too, hate it @KentDavidkent Such a good read and very true! I paint a smile on n exist @walnutwhip15