Posts Tagged ‘general health’
Something Happened
When I passed the milestone of 65 years of age, something happened. Something more than the change of health insurance to Medicare. It was something much more subtle and has been worming around in my unconscious insidiously in the mere five months since my last birthday.
I’m losing momentum in my determination to tick away at something that builds strength, boosts stamina, and generally improves overall health each and every day. Last week, I opted to stay in bed instead of getting up to do my planking and stretching routines.
I’ve been telling myself that it was just a break and I could get back on track any time, but the number of breaks in that routine has been occurring with frighteningly increasing frequency in the last year. Similarly, I’ve noticed I don’t pay as close attention to the daily percentage of added sugar in my diet choices.
I think my mind is accepting the natural changes occurring in my body as joints grow arthritic and hormones and metabolism gradually and progressively fade. Being disinclined to seek hormone therapy options to combat natural aging, the best thing I can do involves exercise and diet.
I know the solution, but I’m losing the oomph to address it.
It’s like a football game where you play great, and the team pulls off some spectacular plays to keep the game close, but in the end, you lose by 1 point.
All that effort, but without a desired result.
I’m willing to accept I might not maintain my zest for the routines I’ve established with the intensity of my previous decade, but something happened with my motivation that I will need to address. Luckily, I haven’t replaced my good health practices with new habits like smoking or becoming a problem drinker.
Basically, I think I’m battling the feeling of becoming a tired old man before I actually am one.
The something that is happening is, I’m letting the gradual changes of aging get to my head.
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Slight Pause
As my body arrived upon day 5 of my COVID experience, the vital signs of temperature and oxygen saturation were back to my healthy normal. I executed the majority of my routine of core strength poses and stretches, dressed for the day, and enjoyed a full breakfast that Cyndie had prepared.
I was ready to go, except for one significant thing. I had no “get up and go.”
It wasn’t that I lacked confidence I could step out and fill another day with chores. It was that I lacked any impulse to do, well, anything.
I felt zero motivation—a complete absence of momentum.
In that case, returning to recline on my bed seemed like an appropriate response. The intangible aspects of a COVID-19 infection are worthy of our respect. I’ll give the prescription medication another day to do its thing.
I allowed my body at rest to remain at rest for the majority of a beautiful day.
As the afternoon faded into the dinner hour, I noticed the summery sounds of our surroundings serenading on an intoxicating breeze beyond the screen door.
Despite a minor PTSD flashback of an unsettling encounter evicting a rather large eastern fox snake wrapped around the entry of one side of the shop garage door the day before, I stepped out onto the deck to inhale the fresh air.
I had considered not writing about my having been infected with COVID-19 but I wasn’t sure where that inclination was coming from. I shamelessly share almost everything else about myself.
Having done so, I now appreciate the messages of support and well-wishes I’ve received. Thank you, both of you.
Just teasing. It’s been more than two. Getting better takes time. Feeling better is a process related to getting better. Support from others is a good prescription for feeling better.
I am definitely feeling better. Yesterday will be registered as a slight pause in the return to regular physical duties.
There are so many others who have experienced far more severe illnesses than me as a result of this virus (or lost their lives to it), it occurs to me that maybe I didn’t feel the descriptions of my experience deserved the column space. I’ve also heard plenty of tales about folks who tested positive but didn’t even know they had it.
One thing for certain, I’ve lost the bragging right of never having Covid. I’m booted from the club that thinks they have some magic natural immunity. For now, I am still able to boast of only having it one time.
I will frame this as having been just a slight pause in my otherwise surprisingly good ongoing health.
“Full speed ahead, immune system!”
“Aye aye, Captain. All systems go!”
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Recovery Underway
I’ve heard many times that there are people who are asymptomatic despite testing positive for COVID. You get it, but you don’t get it. That seems weird. I had imagined that my vaccinations and booster shots would ward off the virus even if I got exposed, though I knew there was no guarantee.
Well, I got it and was slammed by symptoms quickly enough to warrant taking the in-home test and alerting my doctor. He prescribed Paxlovid, but with a caveat that if insurance didn’t cover a high cost for the medication he would support me in just riding out the virus with home treatments.
The nurse who checked me in on the phone appointment warned that subsidies were ending for Paxlovid and it could cost as much as $1200. I logged into my insurance account and initiated a chat to check on the cost. With my annual deductible at $8000, an amount I had barely come close to meeting, I could expect the price to be $1334.60.
That information was enough for me to plan to ride it out. My second night was pretty brutal and had me considering spending the money. In the morning, an email in my inbox from the pharmacy said my prescription was ready at a price of $379.60. Maybe the subsidy was still in play. I was all in at that price.
I don’t know if it was coincidental timing but my fever broke by the end of the day of my first dose.
Things are headed in the right direction. I’m giving my mind and body a “positive thinking” boost to maintain the healthy momentum.
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Not COVID
After almost two years of the pandemic, I finally had a reason to get tested for COVID-19. The Delta variant is raging and the Omicron variant is beginning to spread but so far I have survived in general isolation, mostly buffered from first-person contact with known positive cases.
On the Sunday after we hosted Thanksgiving, I sensed a tickle in my throat. It seemed like a wimpy cold until the fourth day when it intensified significantly. Worried that I may have misjudged what I was experiencing and sensitive to the fact we are in the midst of a pandemic, I called my doctor and was told to come in to get tested for COVID.
I had received my vaccine booster shot on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but no masks were worn when sixteen of us spent the holiday together at our home, some of whom had traveled from other states.
When my son called with news that he was experiencing the same symptoms as me it raised my alarm a little, but he had good news of already receiving a negative test result for COVID. It restored my confidence that I would likely receive the same result.
Yesterday afternoon I began to feel my cold symptoms had plateaued and this morning my temperature has returned to normal. An hour ago I received the call confirming my test for COVID was negative.
So, my avoidance of the pandemic virus continues but my run of good luck for freedom from illness has ended. It was a little strange to experience “normal” cold symptoms during this time when a more lethal contagious virus is filling hospitals to the brim but in the grand scheme of things, it was just a normal cold.
Normal isn’t normal, usual, typical, or what is expected anymore.
Uncertainty is probably the better descriptor.
Be vaccinated out there!
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Relative Something 