Don't Get Old!

I’m so sorry you went through this — what a trial! And I now have an even bigger appreciation for your contributions to our WFD thread.

Being nearsighted helps. Unfortunately, cataract surgery takes away that coping tool.

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Thank you!

When I returned from cataract surgery with a patch over my eye I encountered a few women sitting in the lobby of my apartment building, and they looked at me, concerned; they know me well from my giving them baked goods in the past. I said to them, “You should see the other guy!”. :grin:

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I dunno. I’m 63, but I feel like I’m still in my 30s. My metabolism has certainly slowed, but I try to stay active. I’ve been a professional ski instructor for 20 years, and started practicing judo in 1971 and continue 3x/week to this day, only taking off about 6 months after the birth of each of the spawns. I have some arthritis in one knee (the one with the repaired ACL), and aches/pains that used to go away in a day or so now take three to four, but I don’t let any of that stop me.

I’m doing ok, I think.

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This is real. The whole “I’ve fallen - and I can’t get up!” thing gets mocked by those in their 20s and 30s, but to folks approaching or past the three-quarter century mark, falls can quite literally be a killer. There are a couple of of martial arts that have a foundation built on falling safely: judo and aikido. Find a dojo near you and see what they can offer you. I teach a personal protection/self-defense class for seniors in my community, and a large part of it is focussed not on fighting off a mugger, but how to prevent or at least mitigate injuries from falling. Better to have bruised shoulders and buttocks than broken wrists or hips.

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Yep. Falling scares me.

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72 as of yesterday (hold the applause). A life of sports (wannabe basketball player, ex-ranked squash player and teaching pro, intermediate tennis, etc) resulting in a life of injuries, dysfunctional parts and various pains. Currently awaiting a scheduled hip replacement surgery, while in Physical Therapy for a soon(?) to be replaced knee & on meds for shoulder stenosis and a history of sciatica. All this while maintaining my gluttonous eating habits, as posts (& posters) will attest to. So far I’m here.
While my wife’s metabolism keeps cranking away, mine slowed down by age 30 and I’ve had to continuously redefine “slowed” as it’s proven to have many levels before reaching zero. My bruises linger, my balding proves genetics and helps my dermatologist find the places to biopsy and more easily do MOHS surgeries upon, and I don’t think I’ve slept thru more than a couple of nights in years.
And I cant remember what my point was in starting this post. Oh well.

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Happy birthday! I hope you did something fun! And that you remember what it was.

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Sounds like you’re doing better than OK!

You also sound like a frat brother of mine who’s always lived and eaten clean, stayed very active with biking, and teaching and practicing aikido. Both hips failed suddenly and simultaneously at 65, and now he’s got age-related macular degeneration. Unfortunately, being a model of health seldom lasts.

But long may you run…

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Thanks. What worries me is that my brother, whose activity level pretty much mirrored my own, had a massive heart attack IN THE HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM and was dead in a matter of hours, all at the age of 57. There were only a couple of differences between us: his widow said he didn’t take his meds regularly, and he had a chaotic home life mostly born of blended family drama.

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Yeah, there’s no figuring. A Canadian strength coach I followed died suddenly in his early 50s from surprise cardiac conditions. You really couldn’t find a more fit individual.

That being said, the randomness or missed diagnoses/genetics aren’t much of an argument not to do all you (reasonably) can to ward off known hazards. Having recently re-entered a gym rat phase myself, I know I already feel better, and–for a change–actually enjoy working out, eating cleaner, and drinking very little. Who knows, I may stroke out at the bottom of the next squat.

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Sometimes people who die suddenly had an undetected cardiac issue. I know a couple lawyers who have died on the treadmill in their early 50s.

My uncle died suddenly, while snowmobiling, at 59. From a heart attack, not a crash.

Sure. Non-fatal maladies can come on suddenly, too.

I have a very close friend who, in the pre-vaccine, pre-test Covid days, thought he had it. He resisted seeing a doctor, believing there was no point, false positives, etc. He persisted with this until he couldn’t rise from bed and was hallucinating. What was actually happening was sepsis from diverticulitis. Ten days in ICU, the loss of 18 inches of colon, a stomy and a bill for $250K later, he realizes that getting older requires a shift in his approach to getting care.

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Brutal.

I’m sorry to hear that.

We have a family friend who suffered from diverticulitis in 2022. Her husband had died about 5 years before that, so she was living on her own. (And continues to live on her own!) Luckily, being a former lab technician, and having been married to a doctor, and having one scientist son, one MD son, and an MD DIL, she was paying attention to her symptoms and got help quickly. Both her sons live 3 hours away. One brother lives in California and the other lives 3 h away.

Luckily, she didn’t go into sepsis and she is still truckin’.

She still has to watch everything she eats, and avoids seeds.

I too have diverticulosis, and have had a few serious bouts of the -itis. Fortunately, no perforations/sepsis. I now know the signs and when to hit the heavyweight antibiotics. And my experience is that the condition can be managed pretty well with fiber and glutamine supplementation.

Gut health is important as we age, no matter how young we feel.

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Agree. On that note.

This one (actually a whole box of them) followed me home:

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Be careful eating that stuff. Unlike Twinkies, which is lab. clean, it grows in dirt.

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Soil. It grows in soil. With all due respect and a happy belated!

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