I'm Rusting Away!

In the past few weeks, I've basically been told I'm getting old three times by three different doctors. 

First I saw a dermatologist about a spot on my face and while I was there I showed her some other spots that have arrived in recent years. She reassured me that they were just something that came with age.  I'm not sure that made me feel any better but at least I knew the blemishes were nothing to worry about.

Then I called my eye doctor for my annual check-up and when I was told they were currently booking appointments in July I mentioned a problem that had just come up a couple of weeks ago and asked if it might be related to my cataracts. I have an appointment with the eye specialist about those before July. The receptionist kindly said she would pull my file and consult the doctor who phoned me back a little while later to ask more questions. She said it may be related to cataracts or it might just be a thing that happens to older people. If she gets an opening sooner than July she will have me come in so she can evaluate the situation.

Then today I had a little phone consultation with my general practitioner. I have been having trouble with a shoulder for a while now and it was long past time for it to heal on its own. He listened to me explain the problem, asked a few more questions, and then told me he thought it was one of two things, but the underlying theme seemed to be degeneration due to age.  At least he didn't come right out and tell me I was just getting old and to get used to it.  He prescribed pills to try to help me sleep through the night and if that doesn't work, I can go for physiotherapy. In the meantime, now that I've heard what the conditions may be I can look them up online and find the exercises there.  At least I'm not too old to do that!

Lesson Learned

A long time ago I learned never to congratulate myself when things were going well. That's just asking for trouble.

You know how it is. You find some money in your coat pocket, and for a moment you are really happy with this little windfall. And then your washing machine catches fire, or the axle on your car suddenly breaks.  It's always something.

I remember the time I was learning to cross country ski, and kept falling down.  Then I got going pretty good, and had the nerve to think, "I've got the hang of this now."  Well, pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall, and fall is what I did the very next second after having such a lofty thought.  It always seems to work that way for me, but apparently I'd forgotten.

I don't remember ever telling people how old I am, or am going to be, as often as I have in recent months.  I'll be turning 70 on my next birthday, which is coming up this spring. I guess I was feeling rather proud of how well I thought I was doing for my age.  I enjoyed seeing the surprised faces, whether real or faked.  But pride is the seventh deadly sin, and I've now realized I've been paying for it.

I've told you about the knee suddenly going bad, and the little skin cancer episode.  This past week I had another vertigo attack, and have not felt well since.  I always thought aging was something that came on gradually.  Apparently you can be just fine, and then your life can suddenly be changed by even the smallest health problems. I get the point.  I will have to stop bragging about my age, and accept that I'm growing older after all. Maybe if I stop flaunting what great shape I think I'm in I'll be allowed to enjoy what time I have left without all these health related interruptions.  One can only hope.

Inspiration to Carry On

Looking at those around me, I see that age is really just a number.  You are only as old as you feel.  Right now, I'm feeling down right decrepit.

I have two young friends, sisters both in their 40's, each with serious health issues.  They carry on as best they can, but over the past couple of months their families and I can't help but worry about them.  I have other friends with various ailments, not quite so serious, but still bad enough to disrupt their lives, and they also do the best they can to carry on.  What else can you do, after all?

At my age it's inevitable to have friends of assorted ages with hip and knee problems.  Some have taken steps to get those fixed, and some of those are, as far as I can see, not in much better shape than they were before the operation. Less pain perhaps, but not necessarily more mobile.  Carry on seems to be the motto no matter what your age or health throws at you. 

Recently we celebrated the birthday of a lady who is now 90 years young. She is more mobile, and has more energy than just about anyone I know.  I hope to have her energy when I'm just 70.....or even tomorrow!  As it is, I've got a terrible cold and no energy at all. I'm feeling ancient and useless.  But I have years to go before I'm done, so I'll just carry on, like all those good folks around me.  An inspiration, every one of them.  My problem is not so bad, after all, and I'm already starting to feel better now that I'm talked it out.

A Sitting Duck for Health Problems

Until Ontario Hydro changed it's billing system to time of day usage, I routinely baked and did laundry on alternating days as well as doing all my usual household chores. Now it costs twice as much to do any of these things during daylight hours so I now spend a lot more time sitting, doing things that don't take as much electricity, like sorting and filing and reading and painting.  Or I go somewhere else so I'm not using any electricity here, but usually where I go, I end up sitting too.

I know that we must keep active in order to stay healthy and it's always been recommended that we get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.  But recently I read that prolonged sitting is as bad for us as smoking as it increases our risks of diabetes, heart disease and a number of other health problems.  Apparently getting that 30 minutes of exercise doesn't really help if you spend the rest of the day sitting. The article suggested we all should spend more time on our feet, even while talking on the phone or doing other chores we would normally sit down for.  That prompted me to try going back to my old routine. I spent most of the day in the kitchen yesterday, making a pot of home made soup, and some fresh pizza dough for a chicken pizza.  There's enough of both left over for tonight, so at least I won't have to use all that energy two days in a row.  Electrical energy, that is. I still have to find a way to keep from sitting too much today.

Until I read this article, I had never really thought about it before, but really, Ontario Hydro's new pricing system is not good for our health. I know I'm not the only one that has become more idle during the daylight hours.  Seniors on a fixed income are especially at risk if they too are idling away the electrically expensive hours. Our bodies are not designed for long periods of sitting, and thinking about that, and the older people I know, the ones that are always on the move are not only more healthy, they don't seem to be aging as fast. 

I walk at least 10 blocks for my mail every day but the local streets have been an icy mess, so there have been more days than usual that I have felt housebound this winter. I certainly feel that it's aging me and I know I'll have to work to get my stamina back up when spring comes, if I want to enjoy my hobby of geocaching this year.  In the meantime, I'm going to try harder just not to sit so much.  That likely means I'll have to turn  the computer off more often, as I certainly spent entirely too much time sitting in this chair.  Maybe I'll go clean out some closets instead.