I’m Too Old For This
I’m really feeling the weight of my birthdays today. Yesterday afternoon I did about two hours of yard work and it totally wiped me out. The heat indes was around 100°, but we were working in the shade and had plenty of water.
For years I spent the whole day outside doing things a lot more strenuous, but those days are obviously over. I have some more work to do, but it is going to have to wait for lower temperatures.
I did get my anti-virus software on the new machine and got a clean scan, so that’s one less worry.
10 comments
we’re ALL too old for this kind of heat, especially so soon after such a cold winter.
I thought the morning would be better, but we are experiencing windless mornings and the heat and humidity just hang in the air. The wind comes back in the afternoon, making it a lot more comfortable, no matter what the thermometer says.
Funny… I think that most days lately.
Ah well… none of us is getting any younger. 🙂
Just have to take it slowly and do what you can, what else? 🙂
What else?
When you start telling yourself that you’re getting old and that’s why your performance has degraded go see a cardiologist. It’s a good thing to do even if it’s just age; you’ll have a baseline from a stress test that will serve you well in future.
If it’s not age then your cardiologist may be able to restore a lot of that vigor you think age has leached away. It happened to me!
The heat is a real burden to anyone at any age, but several years ago I decided it’s worth it to pay someone younger to do my lawn. This fellow is both reasonably priced and genuinely helpful… e.g., for only a few dollars more, this week he is ridding the patio area of a wasp nest… we have at least one every year, and Stella is so allergic to stings that she has to be taken to the ER even after using her epi-pen (sp?). This guy has also hand-repaired (cheap!) a venetian blind for which we could not find a replacement, hung several pictures and mirrors for us (his eye is truer than my measurements), and replaced light bulbs in awkward places (he’s so tall he just reaches up, no ladder necessary in most cases). I do worry about his health sometimes, but he’s considerably younger than I am.
Shirt’s suggestion is sound. My primary care doc sent me to a cardiologist about five years ago for a thorough workup; it wasn’t cheap, but I felt better about things after receiving basically good news on my heart. It’s about time for another test; I hope Medicare covers it…
My basic problem is that I lost a lot of weight, too much of it muscle mass, due to a terrible diet and lack of regular exercise during the months I was the primary caregiver for my Mother. I have corrected the diet problems, but gaining the weight back is not easy after 60. I have never had a problem with my weight, and always spent time doing things outdoors, but I really haven’t had a large reserve for what happened.
My heart is fine, it just needs to work its way back to where it was, and progress is slower than it has ever been. My sleep cycles are becoming regular as I am returning to something approaching a consistent schedule, but it is going to take a long time to regain most of what I lost.
Bryan, your readers know you have a good heart… 🙂
Well, after today I may have my carotid arteries checked to make sure they are flowing free. The condition of the pump is irrelevant if the pipes are clogged. 😉
” but those days are obviously over”
Maybe not, Bryan. If you factor the stress levels of the last few months along with the poor diet, etc., your body may just be taking a temporary hit.
When I lost my mother to lung cancer, I spent an enormous amount of time in the hospital by her side, and I lost a ridiculous amount of weight. When you know someone is going, the grieving process starts long before they die. I would try to force myself to eat, but I just couldn’t seem to get very much to go past my throat. Along with the fact that I was eating out of machines, and you get the picture.
It took an awfully long time (about a year) to feel that I was back to 100% after that. Like you, I couldn’t believe how soon I’d tire out.
It may take you a while to get the energy level back, but if you’ve always been pretty athletic (and it sounds like you have), I expect you’ll start to feel more like yourself before long. The residual toll that the stress has left will just need to work itself out. Be good to yourself and let your body heal. It will.
My military training helps because I know I’m going to have to eat more than I really want to expand my digestive system. I went though the process in survival school, of living on short rations in the field, and then returning to normal. Yes, the weight loss is scary to people who know you.
Everything takes longer the older you get, and you have to make sure that you aren’t simply eating more, but eating more of the right foods. I’m increasing my protein intake well above normal, and eating things I don’t really like because they have nutrients that I’m low on. I’m not convinced of the value of supplements, I think foods that contain what I need, like potassium, are more reliable.
Yes, Juanita, the stress really takes it out of you.