Living life to the full

Despite suffering from a chronic inflammatory disease of the axial skeleton for almost 30 years, Baar-resident Fritz Fasler is now virtually pain-free. Neither does he let ankylosing spondylitis, also known as Bechterew's disease, prevent him from travelling or even motorcycling.
 
Fasler was around 20 when he first noticed pains in the lumbar region, seemingly coming from nowhere. "Sometimes the pains were so bad I just could not get up in the morning. Then, a few hours later they just went," he said. For some time he had also noticed a stiffening of the nape of his neck, too, and an increasingly inability to nod. It was actually while being examined by a doctor during military service that it was thought he could be suffering from ankylosing spondylitis, or AS.
 
After he noticed he could not lower his head to be able to look through the sight of his gun properly, he consulted a specialist in rheumatology, who confirmed he had the condition. He was advised to do as much exercise as possible but declined to take medicine, even when he was not able to sleep through so much pain, opting to sleep in a deckchair rather than a bed. "Looking back, this time of sleeplessness was the worst of my life," he admitted.
 
These days he can turn his head quite easily but he still has difficulty nodding. He continues to take much exercise such as walking and cycling and even snow-shoe walking in winter. He also attends weekly therapy sessions in Zug, organised by the Swiss AS Association.  He can drive a car but he has had additional mirrors fitted for increased safety.
 
Now nearing fifty, he likes travelling with his wife to places such as Thailand where they enjoy the landscape and the food. However, this year he and his wife are off on a five-week Harley-Davidson motorcycle tour from Los Angeles to New Orleans. "You just cannot beat this feeling of freedom I get as I ride my Harley-Davidson with the wind in my face," he said.