Expired Warranty

In the last few years when someone asks, “How are you doing?”, I have sometimes answered, “It feels like my warranty expired.” I then continue by noting that once I hit the age of 70 it seemed like a lot of my body parts had reached the end of their useful life and didn’t work as well as they used to.

There is language in the Bible that supports this view. (I’m giving it here in both the King James Version – which I learned growing up – as well as in the NASB.)

“The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. … So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” (Psalm 90:10,12 KJV)

“As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is only trouble and tragedy; For it quickly passes, and we disappear. … So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:10,12 NASB)

My experience was not quite as dramatic as a friend who, within a few days of his 70^th birthday, had a stroke. While beginning to recover from that he came down with shingles. Then to complete the trifecta, he also was diagnosed with COVID-19. What a way to celebrate his entering a new decade of life!

The issues that I’ve been having the last few years are interestingly NOT related to some of the health issues that I had earlier in life.

·       I’ve related here before how I had a uric acid kidney stone in 2001. I take Allopurinol for that to prevent not only a further recurrence but to prevent gout, which is caused by the same excess uric acid.

·       Nor are my issues related to the heart attack I had in 2005. I had two stents inserted at that time, I take a few medications every day, and I see my cardiologist every year, but every test shows that my heart remains healthy.

·       Nor am I showing any mental deterioration due to Alzheimer's to which I am genetically predisposed as my father and his mother both had it. I am participating in a few research studies and all indications are that I am not showing any signs of it.

No, the things I’m dealing with now are in different areas than these.

Sleep – For all of my working career and in the years following it, I generally functioned well on about seven hours of sleep a night. I went to bed around 10-11 and was awake and ready to go between 5-6. When the company I was working for went on flexible scheduling, I would be at work by 7am and finish up by 3:30pm – avoiding any rush hour traffic.

But now I have found that my body requires a minimum of nine hours of sleep. And because my sleep pattern at night is often interrupted, getting enough means a very different sort of schedule. I still go to bed at 10, but my body wakes up at least once in the middle of the night (I’m typing this at 1am). So, I usually only get 8 hours of sleep before 8am. That still leave me an hour short, so I take a nap after lunch. I’ve gotten pretty good at lying down on the sofa, dropping off fairly quickly, then waking in almost exactly an hour. Since I’m no longer working (at least not at a paid job) having this sort of schedule seems to work. But it’s a sign of aging that my body needs more hours of sleep than it used to.

However, the good news is that earlier this year, on the recommendation of my cardiologist, I took a sleep study and now use a CPAP at night. So, while I do sleep more soundly than I did before it has not changed the amount of sleep I need.

Muscle aches – An area that I notice much more frequently is muscle aches. These can appear in a variety of places – arms, shoulders, back, neck, etc. While I had in the past overdone things working in the yard, etc., now it seems that everyday activities can be the cause of these various aches and pains. And whereas before all I needed to do was rest the affected area for a day, now it may take several days to recover.

In my mind, I’m still just as young and strong as I used to be. But the reality is that my body cannot take the punishment that strenuous activity gives it any more. We had a really nice snowfall of about 12” last week. But, as my wife told me, all the bending, lifting, twisting and throwing can no longer be my responsibility. Fortunately, we have a couple of grandsons for whom shoveling is still a fun activity. So, I was able to stay inside and later enjoy the fruits of their labors.

But not every activity is as obvious as shoveling snow. Sometimes even sleeping in the wrong position will give me a “kink” in my neck that will bother me for a day or so. But it’s hard to mentally adapt to the “new normal” and to recognize my weaknesses.

Aching leg joints – Back a few years ago I had a large callus on the ball of my right foot. This was caused by a buildup of bone (essentially arthritis) in that joint. When walking too much caused the callus to tear loose, I had a lot of work done on the tissue of that foot. But during the time that I had it worked on, I had two bouts of sepsis (blood infection). I wrote about the first of those here. That’s now cleared up.

But since the underlying issue is still there, I wear special shoes and have learned to walk in a way that keeps the pressure on the area to a minimum. However, this also changes my gait and puts unusual stress on my leg joints (hips, knees, and right ankle). I’ve noticed recently that my right ankle wants to “roll” on occasion. I haven’t fallen (yet) but it’s an issue that I have to be constantly aware of. And I can also notice that when sleeping (I’m a side sleeper) that my leg joints will get sore if I stay too long in one position.

So, if you see me walking with what appears to be a limp, it’s all due to the problem on the ball of my foot. If needed, I can straighten up and walk “normally”, but when I do I’m putting more pressure on that part of the foot and so I usually avoid doing so. My podiatrist does not recommend surgery as that may aggravate a lot of other things, so I’ve just got to keep dealing with it. Just another part of the aging process.

 

A wise person once said, “Getting old is not for sissies.” And to that I’ll just add, “My warranty has expired.”