Use It ... Or Lose It!
We folks who remember times before the Internet and even before decimalisation, know that we are already living longer and better than our parents and grandparents did. So we are going to make the very best of what we have got and of the time we have left. The key is to have fun, and never take Life too seriously.
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How not to lose it too soon . . . . perhaps
Posted on April 27th, 2009 3 comments
Diane and her dad enjoy a hug at Christmas 2008, just hours before he had his first stroke.
My daddy, at 82, has already lived a couple of years more than his mother and, while he is headed for a similar ending, he has enjoyed better health for longer.
By getting his act together when he retired at 61, my father gave himself greater quality of life for longer than his mother enjoyed.
His 61st year was a big one. He gave up smoking, drinking and overeating. He walked more and started to enjoy life.
His mother, on the other hand, remained a heavy drinker and smoker until she had her first stroke at 68. Within a couple of years, she had her big stroke which put her in a nursing home, paralysed down one side and without speech for the last 10 years of her life.
Dad, on the other hand, suffered his first stroke last Christmas, just before his 82nd birthday. He also started developing dementia a few years ago and also type II diabetes but his doctors say that his life would have been more debilitating if he had not cleaned up his act at 61.
Of course, it would have been far better if he had got his health on track in his 40s or 50s. He would then have possibly avoided the diabetes and maybe the dementia. My doctor told me that the 50s is your last-chance decade to turn your life around if you are heading towards diabetes, dementia and stroke. He said this while looking sternly at me – a very overweight (oh, okay, technically obese) 52 year old.
I should get the message, given the health of my forebears, shouldn’t I?
Another good example of how fitness can beat your family health traits is my Uncle Nick, 87, and still getting about despite having suffered his first stroke in his 50s. I have lost count of how many strokes and heart attacks my uncle has had. He also has beat bowel cancer.
So why is he still here? Plain and simple – fitness. He has remained active, walking everywhere, swimming and keeping his weight in check.
These stories are anecdotes, sure, but they illustrate the importance of getting fit – at any age.
3 responses to “How not to lose it too soon . . . . perhaps”
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Hi Diane,
I never knew your mum but I have met your daddy, and he strikes me as a remarkable man… and that applies even though he is now in a nursing home. He would have been something really special when he was a younger man. It takes an amazing amount of willpower to do what he did. Or should that be better named as “WON’T-power”?
Best wishes with your new Blog and site, by the way.
David
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LYNN TAYLOR May 22nd, 2009 at 19:58
I know your Dad and you know my hubby and we both know how sad it is to see two such lovely men now shells of their former selves. However mercifully I think they do not feel the anguish of their condition as we do but there agian perhaps I am wrong in thinking this for we really do not know what goes on deep in the heart, soul and mind of man
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Hi Dianne..what can I say? I looked after myself very well during my misspent youth but all of a sudden a few of years ago I packed on the weight..no change of eating or drinking habit ..it just happened. For years I had been telling the doc that I hadn’t felt quite right ..”Oh it’s only menopause coming on”. Finally someone listened though and sent me for a few tests..Diabetes..my weight gain was due to insulin resistance not over eating etc etc etc. My family has a wonderful repository of genetic diseases and diabetes runs through it like a dose of salts. I agree looking after yourself is a key, my specialist said that had I not looked after myself throughout my life my condition would have hit earlier and been a lot worse. Its all on track and diabetes is not such a hard thing to deal with, I was never a huge rubbish eater and not one to get blind drunk or smoke, there has been no need to change anything in my diet, and my blood tests are all good. There are other things that are pointers to diabetes if you are so predisposed and one of them is stress, and believe me its the one thing that sends blood sugar skyrocketing whether you are or aren’t on a strict diet. Stressheads tend to be more prone to it.
Part of getting older is to watch out for your families genetic foibles because it all seems to hit at our age . I spent all my life doing all I knew to avoid the unavoidable..when we were all at school part of my daily chores were to inject my nana with insulin, I swore it wouldnt happen to me..but it did. Sometimes no matter what you do shit happens.
If diabetes runs rampant through your family history, it pays as you hit our age to have a glucose tolerance test every couple of years just in case. Better to pick it up early and have a chance of keeping it all in check. Diabetes can manifest itself in a number of ways..rapid weight loss or weight gain.. and if you start feeling really tired after anything sweet or starchy meal more often than not, get it checked out, tiredness, the fuzzies,lack of energy floaters in your line of vision, excessive thirst or need to get up in the middle of the night for a wee etc its one of those cases where a little prick goes a long way.
On not losing it mentally though my dad is learning Chinese at TAFE at 78 and handling it admirably. His aim is to be able to travel to China and not have to have a tour guide etc.
All you say is true.
Kim
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Low Fat Food Is A Damn Lie April 27th, 2009 at 19:46