<p>Yes, I notice we haven’t heard from the over 70 Marathon Crowd- guess they are too busy to post on CC!</p>
<p>No…I’m not falling apart. Let’s see: two cancers in remission…1 stage 0 blood…as of last week Parkinsons…am blind in one eye from a childhood disease…I fell apart.</p>
<p>I think much of it is the context of now versus the context of then. Now I see injury as a symptom of something more. I see it as a sign. Soreness indicates for that context. It has an aspect of failure. Then I see injury as part of what I’m doing. I see it as a sign that I’m doing. Soreness indicates I’ve been doing stuff. </p>
<p>My work includes understanding the measurable effect of context and how that operates to define you in a moment. I can off the top of my head think of a dozen examples of really pulled muscles, sore arms, pain in my neck (not to mention the pain in the neck I was to others). I had a lump in my chest that hurt for 2 to 3 years. My feet would kill me, partly because I wore flat-soled, no support PF Flyers or Keds and partly because we’d do stupid things like jump off the roof (the key is to let your knees bend on impact and land not on the toes but flat-footed). I had broken bones and nearly constant headaches. </p>
<p>But I was young and expected these things would pass. I saw soreness as a sign that I was getting stronger or at least that I’d done something. Now I expect things won’t pass - or rather fear they won’t. I see soreness as a sign of future pain. Is it really? Or is it how I view things now?</p>
<p>OP, do you have reflux/heartburn? It is common in people who are overweight especially in the middle.</p>
<p>We’re lucky to be falling apart in the 21st century instead of even a few decades earlier.
Frazzled1, I normally would agree with you regarding medical advances- but, even though i agree that obviously we have seen medical advances, we still have to cope with genetics.
My grandmother had a knee replacement at 75, and died at 85. My mother had a knee replacement at 65 and died at 75, I’m looking at a knee replacement at 55…</p>
<p>I thought this was interesting & alarming.
<a href=“http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019309985_dioxin01m.html[/url]”>http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019309985_dioxin01m.html</a></p>
<p>Gallbladder long gone. Cataract surgery (on left) tomorrow morning and the other eye at a later date. CHS “can’t hear stuff”, too.</p>
<p>Otherwise, I feel great.</p>
<p>Right there with you. I was the healthiest person I knew two years ago at over 50 years of age. Ate well, exercised, had never been in a hospital except for childbirth. Definitely not even a little overweight. </p>
<p>Since then I’ve had three major life threatening illnesses. I am now tired, have pain and take medications every day. Can’t imagine living like this for another 40 years which I always though was the age I was going to live to.</p>
<p>53-year-old here. Always been slim. My BMI according to my doc is 20.2. Have exercised most of my life, not fanatically but this and that – swimming, walk/run, dance classes, deep house cleaning while listening to the ipod. Eat some bad stuff but also a lot of good stuff - fish, vegetables, fish, fruit, did I mention fish?</p>
<p>So at this point, I feel more fragile in that relatively minor stuff rocks me more. For example, allergy season will cascade into post-nasal drip which will lead to sore throat and very upset stomach which will cascade into me not wanting to get out of bed at all.</p>
<p>Or just recently, out of the blue, I felt sore and exhausted for no apparent reason for several days. I was convinced I had arthritis. But then it just went away.</p>
<p>I notice I tend to walk more slowly than my DH and kids now. I notice that I can’t have more than one drink without getting completely ill. </p>
<p>Not fall ing apart so much has having a harder time holding it together.</p>
<p>Wow, do I feel a lot less sorry for myself! I lost a ton of weight then all sorts of external problems developed - alopecia areata, posterior vitreous detachment, aging issues “down there”, as the gyny calls is ;), and a “hopeless” tooth that is coming out later this week. At least I avoid the root canal and crown. There is nothing I could have done to prevent any of this. I’ve had diabetes 2 for a very long time and it hasn’t affected my life.</p>
<p>So here I am feeling healthier than I have in many years yet keep going to medical appointments. It all started roughly when I turned 60. Arggh.</p>
<p>I’m with you on this one - I lost over 40 pounds and then developed high blood pressure. What??? </p>
<p>Achy joints here too - I did read that it is a symptom of menopause so I try not to freak out about it (my mother was very arthritic). I also have some terrible female symptoms so I’m counting the minutes to menopause but so far it has been eluding me.</p>
<p>50 years old…</p>
<p>I forgot to add - I’ve had tinnitus for one year… One year of ringing in the ears. I’m afraid I’m going to lose my hearing - or my sanity.</p>
<p>Yes. Whatever hasn’t fallen apart seems to have either fallen down or out.</p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>FWIW, I floss at least twice a day. Somehow I think it is a good thing. :)</p>
<p>Falling apart? Oh, heavens…I am the poster child for How To Age Ungracefully.</p>
<p>Am working on taking much, much better care of myself. Can only hope DH decides to do the same, but realize that is highly unlikely. Denial runs deep in that one.</p>
<ol>
<li> Never been in a hospital or had anything other than very minor medical issues. Recent physical fine. But with all my long-held bad habits I know things can’t stay rosy forever. I’m really hoping those bad choices will not allow a protracted, painful, expensive end, like those I have witnessed with some of my more health minded friends.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>It’s a crap shoot, isn’t it?</p>
<p>3 C-sections (I needed a zipper to get those babies out!)
1 cataract a few years ago
2 back operations
Type 1 diabetes —> frozen shoulder, several emergency room visits annually due to being too low and then hurting myself, i.e. concussions or stitches
3 car accidents (none my fault) —> incredible whip lash
need contacts (in my one 'old eye) and hearing aids
need regular peridontal work</p>
<p>Life is good. (I’m serious)</p>
<p>Goal for the week.
Do not look at yourself in a plate glass window.</p>
<p>^ explanation for above
I saw myself hobbling down the sidewalk with my cane, not a good look for me even though it is a pretty cool cane made of applewood from some prunings.
However I did get to test my handicapped sticker in the paid parking zone. Found the closest space, clipped it on the rear view mirror & no ticket!</p>
<p>I (almost) can’t wait till it rains!</p>
<p>^ Plate glass windows… Augh.</p>
<p>My mother said the first time she really “got it” that she was old was the day she spotted a well dressed elderly lady in a plate glass window, and the shock when she realized she had seen herself. She still felt like she was 40, but the outside didn’t match the inside.</p>
<p>Had a similar couple of moments last winter when I:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Looked up at the security TV when walking into Target and thought, “I have the same jacket as that overweight lady”. Gaahh! It was me.</p></li>
<li><p>I stepped on a new bathroom scale and realized that the dryer had not shrunk every pair of jeans I owned, but that I was, indeed, fat.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>That post menopause weight gain seemingly slinked, like a squishy 25 pound housecat, onto my midsection while I wasn’t paying attention.</p>
<p>10 months later, I am 21 pounds lighter, back in reasonable shape, and feel 10 years younger. I hadn’t realized how achey, slow, and ungraceful I was feeling until I started walking, eating more mindfully, and dropping those pounds. The weight does make a difference.</p>
<p>^eastcoascrazy, you sound just like me! I’ve lost about the same amount of weight in the last few months. I’m convinced that getting in shape is one of the keys to looking and feeling younger. It gets more important the older you get, too.</p>
<p>Off to my strength class at the Y now!</p>
<p>How can I feel so decrepit when I haven’t hit menopause yet? 
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is better than feeling old, too.</p>