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You are right, having a bit of control is really necessary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oddstray
One way of dealing with new aches and pains is to find something you can 'control' about them.
I had a spell of arthritis in both hands. That was seriously annoying! They ached, and nothing I could do make them stop aching. But I enjoy my glass of wine in the evenings, so we went shopping for a wine puller that I could manage despite the ache.
DH had a severely sore big toe and also a shoulder. He went to his doctor expecting that there was some injury. He was majorly depressed to hear that it was arthritis. He felt at first like that made him a helpless old man. But he found that the pain isn't constant - there are things he can do to relieve it and prevent it. So he's now much less blue about having arthritis.
Indeed....the young heal very quickly and often with no resulting consequences.
Hope you do well, feel better soon!
Quote:
Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal
Healing definitely takes longer, too - I sprained my ankle (severe sprain, cracked lateral malleolus) in early October, and I am still hobbling around, very limited in range and using a brace daily, looking at another 6 months or so before it heals. There are a couple of kids in their teens with similar injuries at the physical therapist and complete recovery for them is 3-6 months, not the 9-10 for me.
Isn't that the truth! I got a bout of some wicked flu going around, when I was a young un, I was up and about after a day of TLC, not so any more! That is for sure. Took me three days to get back to work, and I felt like death warmed over for a month after that.
I think a hangover would kill me, which is why I hardly drink even a glass of wine once in awhile. No drinking on NYE for me. Those days are long gone.
I think a hangover would kill me, which is why I hardly drink even a glass of wine once in awhile. No drinking on NYE for me. Those days are long gone.
LOL This is true for us, too. We went to a fancy pants NYE party this year, and while it was a lot of fun to do something like that the next day we felt like a truck hit us. I could hardly do anything all day, and didn't feel normal for 24 hours. The funny thing is we didn't have that much to drink. Between the two of us we split a bottle of merlot and we each had a glass of champagne at midnight. Back in th day that would barely have an effect--now it's taking a huge toll.
So, while it was fun, I don't think my body can handle that sort of thing anymore.
Ani, what a lovely post. You took the words out of my mouth, but said them in a much more elegant and convincing manner than I would have. I appreciate your post as much as BlueHeron - I suspect it will give him/her plenty to contemplate.
I really related to one of your statements:
"I meet new people and want to say . . . "Hi! I am Ani! I wish you could have met me when I was actually 'myself' and not
now, when my physical presence no longer represents the REAL me."
But it is the real me. It may not be the me who exists in my brain . . . but take my fingerprints and a DNA sample . . . and sure 'nuff . . . this is ME.
So I have decided . . . the graceful part about aging is in balancing remembrance of things past with the reality of who we are now (and who we are yet to become). Life has brought me to this moment, to this place. And if I am given the gift of many more years, there are changes still on the horizon. The positive ones include wisdom and maturity; the negative include loss of stamina and changes in physical appearance."
Since I've spent the last 2½ years in Durham meeting new people, I experience this every day of my life. I miss my old self and my old life - my husband passed away last spring and I miss my life with him terribly. I also miss the 36-year-old friendships that I left in Charlotte. I miss having people witness my old energy. I miss my old energy.
However, living in a retirement community as a widow I see the scores of 80, 85, 90, yes even 95 year olds who do yoga, tai chi, aerobics, Zhumba, walk, swim laps, square and ballroom dance, and on and on every day. I've been inspired by these folks. I'm on a billiards team, swim and walk, have a garden plot, belong to a book club, do ceramics, knitting and chair caning. I go to the Movies at the Met, the symphony, movies in Durham and Chapel Hill, plays in Chapel Hill and Durham at least once a month, local young folks hangouts and gourmet restaurants once a week if not more.
So, although some days I am downright blue and listless, I have turned a corner and am, after realizing that the only acceptable way to do it is gracefully, I am beginning to age gracefully. I have to admit that some days it is HARD, HARD, HARD to go to the pool. Some days even hard to get out of bed. B does get easier every week.
Let me recommend a book by Judith Viorst entitled Necessary Losses The first chapter is not particularly illuminating for anyone who has taken Psych 101, but the book as a whole does offer some valuable insights on aging and letting go.
...DH had a severely sore big toe and also a shoulder. He went to his doctor expecting that there was some injury. He was majorly depressed to hear that it was arthritis. He felt at first like that made him a helpless old man. But he found that the pain isn't constant - there are things he can do to relieve it and prevent it. So he's now much less blue about having arthritis.
Did the doctor rule out gout as a possible cause of your husband's sore toe? Gout is a form of arthritis - but is usually dealt with pretty differently than other types of arthritis (there are specific drugs - dietary recommendations - etc. - etc.). And it's very common for gout to affect your big toe (which is why I asked my question). Robyn
Did the doctor rule out gout as a possible cause of your husband's sore toe? Gout is a form of arthritis - but is usually dealt with pretty differently than other types of arthritis (there are specific drugs - dietary recommendations - etc. - etc.). And it's very common for gout to affect your big toe (which is why I asked my question). Robyn
Thanks for the suggestion. When he first described the pain to me, I told DH that it sounded like gout. (I have a co-worker who occasionally gets attacks of gout.) So I'm sure he discussed that possibility.
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