I don’t know how it happened, but somewhere in the last couple months, I turned into an old man.
Winter, I believe, aged me. I feel like I went into it with at least a little vim and vigor. I’m limping out of it a changed man. And back to that “vim and vigor.” It may not have been “vim and vigor” for most people, but for a guy who’s putting off two knee transplants, it’s as good as it gets.
I decided this week to try to take back some of what winter took from me. I decided to make sure I move around each day. I sit on my backside for most of the day, so I vowed to give my backside a rest. I have one of these watches that tracks my every move. I have learned that what I consider exercise, often times my watch doesn’t. Maybe it doesn’t know I’m over 60. If I’m moving around for a half hour, it shouldn’t insult me and tell me I exercised just 12 of them.
My knees, my left one especially, is usually swollen to twice the size of the right one at the end of the good day. Surgeons have the scalpel at the ready, but I don’t see it happening in the near future.
I also made a huge mistake a few years ago and went along with the advice of a supposed reputable doctor who said I needed to have sinus surgery. I’ve been prone to sinus infections and allergies most of my life. I’ve had two sinus surgeries, and I’m here to tell you this: don’t do it. Both times, I’ve ended up in worse condition that I was before it. I used to get a few sinus infections a year. A round of antibiotics would knock it out and life would go on. Now, after sinus surgery number two, I can honestly say I feel miserable most of the time.
I’ve set a kind of personal record in the last year in trips to the doctor’s office. There’s regular stuff that comes with age. Once I turned 60, overnight my blood pressure was high and cholesterol had to be kept in check. Throw some sinus infections in the mix, and it’s been a long, long winter.
So, I’m greeting summer this year with open arms. I’m embracing it. I need to reverse the toll winter has taken on me.