Are We Having Fun Yet?

Yes, it does break the rule of thirds!

While we enjoyed our son and fiance's visit over the holiday weekend the recent holiday Monday itself we spent canoeing.  We have been so busy with volunteer and social obligations that we have not taken the time to get the canoe out on the water before the mosquitoes and warm weather make it more of a trek rather than a trip.  We took the smaller canoe and that meant loading less paraphernalia.  The canoe itself gets balanced on hubby's upper back and transferred to the top of the car where he climbs up and ties it off in 4 places.  The landing was only 20 minutes away.  Still at our age we feel blessed to be able to do this.

I am 66 and proudly taking no medications.  I am beginning to feel arthritis creep in after I exercise or do yard work and my getting up in the morning would give you a laugh as I hobble to the bathroom.  Once the joints are warm and greased I can do almost anything including touch my toes with no pain.  I do get a bursitis in my left shoulder if I exercise too much and that can last all week.  As I age I have noticed a nasty cough that catches me by surprise if I am not keeping up on my fluids and my less than stellar eyesight is most annoying as I love photography.  My desire to lose weight continues and I run on the elliptical about 6-9 miles a week, lift heavy (10 pound) weights and do stretching.  I do some yoga, but must be careful as I can push it too much and then regret the joint and tendon pain for days.   Still, I think I am very lucky for my good health at this time in my life.

Hubby has always been very healthy as well, except for problems that started years ago.  He was diagnosed with prostate cancer and while some men are doing the watch and wait, he had the radiation seed treatment and by the year's end he was pretty much back to normal except for check-ups through these past years.  That was 6 years ago and his appointment last week was his last as they now have declared him cancer free.

About 10 years ago hubby also started having problems walking and seemed to be stumbling often.  He is a reasonably athletic person and was able to recover without falling to the ground most times, although it did make for some interesting acrobatic moves on his part.  I thought he was just being careless as he talks a lot when he walks.  Then he got intermittent numbness in his hands and the eventual diagnosis was stenosis of the spine.  This meant the canal that carried his spinal cord was narrowing in places causing the nerves to be pinched.  If it was left untreated and got worse he could be paralyzed down from wherever the stenosis begins.  In his case it was his neck!  He went in for spinal surgery and had the back part of four vertebrae removed...yes removed...so that now his spinal cord rests in the open channel and is covered by muscle only.  I exaggerate not at all when I say he was out of the hospital the day after surgery and home and walking with a neck brace in the suburban neighborhood where we lived within days.  Within weeks he was back at work part time.  He was determined that this would not set him back one inch.

By the end of the year we were hiking, canoeing, bike riding and continuing our fairly active lifestyle once again.  Unfortunately, now years later. the stenosis has returned as it sometimes does.  His neck is too stiff to turn too far to either side when driving,  it hurts if he hits a bump while riding the bike, and he is being careful many times by wearing a neck brace.  He does the assigned exercises.  The doctor has recommended painkillers and Valium as a muscle relaxant and are taking a wait and see approach.

Hubby is being brave, but having a science background, he tends to be more analytical and also understands anatomy very well.  I put off the images that you know flit across my mind on occasion, and try to make him be more careful as we age together.  None of us knows what the future will hold, and we only hope that we hang on until the very last laugh or scoff depending on our mood.

Old age is not for the weak of heart or spine, it seems.