The Aches and Pains of Getting Old

Yesterday, I was sitting at my desk at work and I got a shooting pain in my leg. Turns out it was a shin splint but I don't know why or how I got it. I usually know (too much walking on pavement at Disney), or whatever. But, the only thing I can figure is something I did at Pilates Thursday night. Argh! Very frustrating, I ended up not doing my Zumba class, iced it quite a few times throughout the day and night and today it is mostly better.

This morning, my husband woke up with an excruciating painful back problem. He has been seeing both his chiropractor and massage therapist regarding this problem, but for some reason it took a turn for the worse. So, here I am at work on a Saturday working with my nephew who is also our IT person as he does computer upgrades, maintenance, and stuff I don't full understand. So, by the end of the day I will have a really clean desk (or at least part of it) because I don't have any work work I really need to do today. Now, if only I could train my dogs to do the loads of laundry that are waiting for me at home.

What is so frustrating, is that we will be leaving on a vacation soon to go out to Bryce and Zion parks to do some hiking, and then to Las Vegas (where we will also walk a lot) and to see some shows. And we will need to keep up with our 21 year old son who doesn't have all the aches and pains of getting old. I am glad we waited til we were a bit older to have a child, but as we get older it is harder to keep up with him.

My mom is almost 90 and still living alone at her home. I see things that lead me to believe that she too is getting old (I guess at her age she has the right to be getting old). She has trouble with her manual dexterity due to arthritis in her fingers (if this is hereditary I too will probably get like that as my grandmother also had arthritis problems). She is still active, and she is still driving, and she is planning a big birthday bash for this summer.

So, I see more and more the importance of keeping up with my Yoga, strength training, and so forth. And my diet has become much healthier in the past few years. I hope it all pays off and although I have aches and pains, I want to be living in our own place when we are 90.

No More Broken Bones

About 2 1/2 years ago, I twisted my foot at work, and then high excruciating pain only to find out the next day that I had broken my foot. After having it in a walking cast and so forth I asked the bone doctor, well, based on my age (young 50's) and a history in my family (mom and grandmother) of osteoporosis, could you test me for it? His answer, no.He was only a doctor to fix a problem, not prevent future ones. So, went to my regular doctor, got bone density screening found out I did indeed have osteoporosis and went on a regimen to turn it back for the past 2 years. Since you can only have the test every two years I had to wait to see if all of this would do any good.

GOOD NEWS. I got my second bone density screening a few weeks ago and the osteoporosis is gone! Between weight bearing exercise, medicine, increased calcium, and change of diet (less sodas) I was able to regain my bone density. Yeah!! I still need to keep it up -- so I don't go back to where I was. Doesn't mean I won't break another bone, but if I do, it shouldn't be so easy to do. I am proud of myself for sticking to the regimen and making new habits for myself. And good news is always worth sharing.