Returning to golf triggered my sciatica, which came back in a roar. I’m on week two, and it’s improving a lot, but still. I just told Dale, you know, a couple of weeks ago I was doing the sit-to-stands where you pop up out of the chair 10 times in a row, and now I can barely wiggle my way up with my arms holding onto something for support.
But then I said, maybe those exercises helped me. It could be worse. And we both said at the same time, “Who fucking knows?” And then we laughed like lunatics, because it helps. Really.
Just because there isn’t enough drama at our house, I also have an incredibly intense stiff neck. This isn’t very Stoic of me, but let me tell you how I did that. It’s a classic case of no good deed goes unpunished.
When I had breast cancer, they removed lymph nodes for biopsies, which puts me at risk for lymphedema. It has been 10 years, but the risk never goes away. I had some swelling in the armpit where my fracture was, so I asked about that and was referred to the lymphedema clinic.
They said I don’t have lymphedema, but since I have compromised lymph nodes it might be prudent to do a few exercises to encourage drainage. She gave me a pamphlet with the exercises, which looked easy peasy. And so like the good girl that I am, I went home and did them. She knew I was recovering from a fractured proximal humerus, but even if she had said be careful, you aren’t who you used to be, I would probably have blown that off. These exercises did not look threatening.
The next morning I couldn’t move my neck. It feels like I aged 20 years. Maybe just a little too much considering what my body’s been through? Stress? Who fucking knows? It’s getting better, but in hindsight, why did I eagerly agree to a solution for a problem I didn’t have? I need to work on that.
And then there’s Dale’s knee. Partial ACL tear and some other stuff. We finally got to see a doctor, although we can’t see the “specialist” until August! But we saw our regular sports medicine guy, who we like very much. The doctor agreed with the “conservative management” plan, which means no weight bearing for at least six weeks and no surgery likely. He wants to see Dale again before we finally gets to the mother ship in August.
Dale feels pretty good, especially after seeing the doctor, who is an osteopath. I love me an osteopath. Dale has been referred to the same ortho I went to for my arm, which tells me it’s just a case of monitoring.
Just as I was whining about being able to do the sit-to-stands only a couple of weeks ago, Dale said I know! I was walking two miles after fracturing my pelvis, and now this. But we managed to turn on our inner Stoics. We are strong and resilient. This is just a minor setback.
A friend in the healing business told me it’s the year. This year. 2026. She said the shit has hit the fan with just about everybody she knows except her college-age daughter, who is having the time of her life.
Oh, sure, to be young and perky.
I was never too worried about aging, happy to be alive and all that, but whatever happened to you 20 or 30 years ago will be worse when it happens after 70. You heard it here first.
Dale and I have discussed it ad nauseum, and we’ve accepted this is our current reality. We also concluded this isn’t the beginning of the end. We didn’t go from healthy to doomed in a matter of months. We’ve led healthy, active lifes, and this is simply a string of bad luck. We will push through it and return to our former glory, or at least the creaky but glorious 70-somethings we were before all this went down.
Or some version thereof.
Easy peasy is where you got off track. At our age, anything that looks easy peasy, ain’t. Put that on a plaque.
This is so funny! Nothing is easy peasy at 75 years young.
It should definitely be on a plaque, quite possibly a t-shirt. I had a side gig business selling t-shirts back in the day. I still have lots of ideas, but I don’t want to do the work!
For me, once I hit 70 the shit hit the fan. Every morning upon waking I ask myself “so what body part is it today that is going to cause a problem?”. The last two days it has been my hips (but I’m lazy and still sitting on the sofa for hours on end reading, when I should be stretching and standing). Earlier in the week it was my lower back. For the last month it has been my feet. I will be 75 in a few months, and I am hoping this daily discomfort is just a phase that will soon end. I am buying Tylenol Extra Strength in the large size now, and it has become part of my daily routine. I feel for you and Dale – I know how discouraging and debilitating constant pain can be. Wishing you both good health and less discomfort.
Redundancy is the key. Always have a backup bottle of Tylenol and Advil. I hate that we have to be so careful with it, because they both really do help.
My back is improving, but boy, it likes to hang on. The neck is much better. Hope you find some relief soon.
There is a term I learned in RF Electronics, for when you’re trying to squash down one frequency another one will pop up. I guess it doesn’t matter where this term came from but I always think of it when shit happens. It’s called the “waterbed effect”. Basically when you squash one thing bad going on in your life another thing pops up, and the pattern continues forever. We’re all just one big waterbed undulating up and down with the things that go on in our lives.
I love this. We actually had a waterbed for many years, so I can visualize this.
I came across this recently: the older I get, the harder it is to get along with my body.
I think I’d could get with the program if we didn’t have to be so stingy with the Tylenol and Advil.
So sorry shit hit the fan again. Sciatica is the worst. I’ve had it for over a year. Sometimes it just feels like playing a game of Whack A Mole. Hope you get some relief soon.
Now I don’t know which one I like better. Whack A Mole or the waterbed effect. Both are pretty great.
Seriously? 2026 is being a bad year health-wise all round? I’m hoping that the fact the previous couple of years have been bad years health-wise in my life will allow me to escape from that. Especially as I keep reading that Taureans have been having a shit time for the past few years and this is our year for things to change. I don’t generally believe such stuff, but I was prepared to believe it *could* be true ‘cos I felt the need of it.
The easy peasy exercises sound like some sort of stealth weapon. Sorry to hear there’s still shit happening. I used to be so proud of the fact that I never took painkillers too. Sigh. Both Whack-A-Mole and the waterbed effect are making loads of sense to me.
I’ll bet you paid your 2026 dues in advance. Smooth sailing ahead!
Me too! I wake up and process what hurts? How do I feel? ( like Spock is asked in Star Trek: The Voyage Home). How do you feel?? I’m still adjusting to the damn CPAP machine, but it is getting better. This last year, I have really slowed down. I don’t walk as much, swim as much, or anything as much, well, except wine:) I think after having the torn ACL and both meniscus blown, that definitely slowed my walking down. I don’t think they do the surgery for ACLs anymore, at least that’s what they told me. And it never really heals; you just have to live with it and try to do the exercises to strengthen the quads. It took me over a year to get there, so tell Dale to hang in there; it does get better with time.