| A Word Edgewise by Mary Joe Clendenin |
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| A Word Edgewise by Mary Joe Clendenin |
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GETTING OLD IS A FULL TIME JOB
According to my outdated medical reference book, arthritis and rheumatism are about the same, and neither word is very definitive without some other modifier--which makes very little difference to the summons of pain to various parts of the body. Sometimes its joints, sometimes it muscles, but it hurts.
Another book Future Youth, How to Reverse the Aging Process, by the editors of Prevention Magazine, has much to say about the subject. They would have you believe it is just a normal process of aging. "It help to look at your joints as parts of your body subject to stress, just like your eyes, hair and skin." They go on to say that exercise will build up muscles that can compensate for the damaged joint by relieving it of stress. According to them, a realistic attitude can really improve a person's life. If you have a good attitude you will function better than a person with a bad attitude. (That may mean that between pain spasm you have to smile a lot.)
I remember my dad complaining of rheumatism years ago. He tried everything he heard of to try to stop the pain. In those days, Glen Rose had a sanatorium where one could take the cure, drink the water and soak in it--no, no, that doesn't sound right. He was supposed to drink lots of that sulphur water. Then he was also to take the baths. He stayed there about two weeks. When mother took us to see him, J Ed and I had fun playing croquet there in the yard of the sanatorium, so we didn't vision it as a haven for the suffering. Of course, we had to go to the courthouse and get a drink of the smelly water where it came out of a fountain made to look like an old log. What passes as treats for some kids!
Dad might have felt better for a while after the treatment, but he wasn't cured. He tried eating garlic with everything except ice cream. He tried eating brown rice and fresh fruit. His was not the kind of arthritis that made the joints swell and deposited calcium to make big deformations. But it must have been pretty painful because I know one of the treatments was. He resorted to letting bees sting him. He would go out to tend the bees, get honey or feed them, and deliberately get stung. After the ouch went away, the rheumatism was still there.
A member came back to our swimming group Monday, using a cane. She had been on a tour and she said, "Those old Ritis brothers are bad news, and the worst of them, Arthur, went with me all the way on vacation." I didn't ask her any other questions. She seemed a little disgusted at the inconvenience.
Mother used to say her arthritic leg predicted the weather with more accuracy than the weather man. I'm not sure she could differentiate between a thunderstorm and a general rain, but she knew some change was coming. Ray says his arthritis hurts more before a weather change too. Seems strange, but who am I to doubt. Looks like I'm joining the complaining chorus. This morning my shoulder is far from comfortable. Holding the newspaper open to read it was too painful. I had to spread the paper open on the table--right in my cereal bowl.
Some experts (?) think sugar is a main culprit when people have arthritis. Giving up sugar and loosing weight can make life more comfortable--but that takes care of most of the fun. Some say just the right vitamin combination is all you need. Wonder which of my many supplements is working friendly?
I have a rebellious attitude when experts tell me to give up coffee, tea, sugar, cake, frozen yogurt, fresh fruit, hot bread and butter. I may give up listening to experts. Someone has reason for me to eliminate all the things I like from my diet. Guess it would be possible to loose weight under those circumstances. But then, I need my night cap of a bit of frozen yogurt. A cup of coffee--I have only one--in the morning helps me get started. And I can give you good reasons for all the other good stuff. I enjoy it.
All in all, getting old is a full-time job. You have to be vigilant to do all the right things at the right time. Skipping the news before bedtime is a help. Cuts back on the nightmares and the tossing and turning. Choosing the Discovery Channel on television helps--though some of those animals get pretty mean. Watching old movies where you don't have to be in suspense about the outcome passes the time safely. I've even grown to like watching baseball after all these years of fussing at Ray because he hears not a word I say when a game, of any kind, is on.
Aches and pains, by any name, just grin and bear it seems to be the name of the biggest game in town. Some friends of ours in Lubbock have a card which says, "Verna and Gaither Vanderver, the older we get, the better we used to be." That's me.