Getting Old Ain't for Sissies

I've heard or read this comment a thousand times since I turned 50. Believe me it's true.

In the mid-1990s I had a car wreck that ruined my body for the rest of my life. I had been fairly capable until then except for chronic insomnia and headaches that weren't migraines but every doctor thought they were. Therefore there was no treatment, only pain pills. I learned this is part of fibromyalgia. Google it and you'll find all kinds of things about it.

The wreck was on a side street I travel on my way home from work. A young woman, also coming home from work and going to pick up her baby, ran a stop sign and hit my right front wheel. The impact turned me completely around, hit a phone pole and landed against a tree in someone's yard. I seemed to be fine when I came to a stop but after 4 hours in the ER, the pain was enough to make me pass out. Some kind man, whose yard I had desecrated (I think) called my husband and he met me at the hospital, saw me through the exam and X-rays and took me home. Since the pain was building fast, I had to have a shot so I could stand in front of the X-ray machine. Husband took me home and with the help of a neighbor, poured me into bed. He slept on the floor beside my bed the whole night. I woke him at 6 a.m. to help me go to the bathroom.

Four years later I had breast cancer. Again, my husband was my lifesaver.

My mother died in 1963 and my dad in 1994. I don't miss my father. Wish I had some good memories.

Ten years after cancer, my heart started racing and I couldn't breathe. Atrial fibrillation and congestive heart failure. Husband was a lifesaver again. (I think I'll keep him as long as I can.) I'm still dealing with that.

Meanwhile fibromyalgia has been a constant, along with blood pressure problems. Every now and then I have an episode of devastating pain or insomnia that nearly does me in. Husband DOES NOT approve of the pills I take for that.

Have I mentioned my two children have grown and left home? One is married and has given me the only granddaughter I'll probably ever have. A mixture of gloom and a bright spot.

Dealing with Medicare, a supplement, medicine, do I get a flu shot, in light of the probability that I'll have a reaction? Osteoporosis. Bad feet. Arthritis. Geez! it's enough to make me cry.

Stay young as long as you can.

Update

I just read a book by J. A. Jance, "Hand of Evil." In it,
Ali Reynolds is a former TV anchor and has been laid off. As part of coping with her unemployment, she writes a blog, cutlooseblog.com and it's very popular. She enjoys sharing her life with people and sometimes helping them with problems. She seems to get a great deal of saatisfaction.

I wondered about reviving my own blogs, at least one of them. At one time I thought about trying to continue my news avocation but just didn't have the interest. Also not ready to give up the time it would take. However, this book made me think again.

I think I'm going to try again. If you want to write to me, I'd welcome it. I'll finish this introduction and then begin my first installment. I don't know if it will continue but I'll give it a shot.

I think all my email addresses are listed but if you want to write to me, send it to lhs1939@gmail.com.