Sandra Lewis – 78 Years Young

I’m 78 years old going on 25, I don’t feel my age and I love to live life with that kind of mentality. My husband and I founded and ran English Language Schools mainly on the South Coast but we had schools across the UK. Throw in two children each, both from previous marriages, and we were always on the go. 

We sold up the schools in 2004 and retired. Back in the ‘90s my husband needed prostate surgery and thankfully we had private health insurance so everything was available to him almost immediately. So immediate that the hospital he was being treated at had to hire a laser machine to do his surgery. The surgeon, who has gone on to become one of our closest friends, said to my husband, “Bob, could you come in for your surgery at 7am because we’ve hired the machine for you but if I get you done in the morning I can clear all my NHS patients who also need this laser”. 

From that point on we wanted to give something back to the community so we raised the money to buy one of these machines. But the response we got was amazing, so much so we raised more than we needed so we decided to set-up a charity called Medi Tech Trust to keep going. So we both essentially still work full time running the charity, my husband is 87 years old but together we’re just like a couple of kids. 

I was never a sporty person but I’ve always loved to garden and going for walks. During Lockdown I was managing to do 10,000 steps a day around my garden so I like to stay active. Even now I still do about 5 to 6,000 steps a day. 

But in my 20s I used to play squash and when playing hit the wall backwards and caused myself a damaged disk. At the time the surgeon said I could have surgery but it was best left alone because it could potentially make it worse. It’s not that bad but if I overdo it in the garden my back does let me know. My maternal grandmother had very bad arthritis, her hands were curled and she couldn’t use them in old age. 

Then in my 40s I developed an ache in my hip which was diagnosed as bursitis. I had a hip replacement in 2009, but the surgeon put the wrong joint size in so one of my legs ended up being 3.5cms longer than the other. I laugh about it now. As a result I have walked with a limp but I hid it, and even now I can’t stand straight. Ever since then I’ve had pain in my leg. 

Obviously having the wrong size joint in your body means a lot of effort goes into compensating for that. As a result, and because I suspect of my family history, I have joint pain in both knees, feet and hands. I’ve been diagnosed with osteoarthritis. About 6 weeks ago I had an X-ray because my hand really swelled up and they confirmed there was osteoarthritis. 

Because the pain and stiffness was annoying me I googled “osteoarthritis cure”. I found all sorts of things, many of which sounded like made-up science. Then I was down in Devon around 2016, I think, and I met a lady who was selling something called FlexiSEQ. I bought one tube and I couldn’t believe how well it worked. 

I try not to use drugs to manage the pain if I can help it but if it gets bad I do use a bit of Ibuprofen gel. But FlexiSEQ is like my hand cream in the morning, it’s part of my routine. I sometimes put it on at night if I’ve got a bit of pain but if I’m okay I don’t think to. But in the mornings, it’s always there by my bedside, ready to go because I know it will ease the stiffness during the day. The reality is I use it just as much as a preventative than anything else, I know if I put it on every morning I’m lubricating my joints, not that I fully understand how it works, I just know it does. My hope is it will stop the progression of the arthritis that is already there. 

I tend to buy FlexiSEQ in bulk, often buying it when it’s on offer in various shops. But I’ll often give tubes away to people who tell me they’ve got a bit of joint pain. Because it doesn’t contain any drugs, which is really important to me, I feel confident recommending it to others.