As the youngest of eight or nine - maybe ten of us, I have a plethora of older siblings whom I have mocked over the years as they have succumbed to various joint and muscle ailments. Horrifically, excepting a sister who inherited rheumatoid arthritis, I am pretty sure that I am starting down the path of general aches and pains younger than any of my other siblings. My brother Kevin doesn't really count, because his knees were trashed through trauma while playing football.
Over the weekend I was helping one of my sibs install some plumbing in a rental he is remodeling for his landlord. Nothing strenuous or the least bit difficult, I found that I could barely walk after several hours of sitting on the floor, putting the waterlines in place and getting the drainline together. I have been having problems with the left lower back for some time - rather serious pain when I stand up that settles back nicely when I walk it off for a few seconds. But this is something new - excruciating pain that just wouldn't go away.
Concerned, I went in to see my doctor on Monday (nothing says fun like dropping fifty bucks I really can't afford) who is fairly certain that it is just a type of muscle spasm that should clear up in a few weeks. Oh, and I can expect this sort of thing to occur with some regularity, which is why he put a refill on the script for Flexerall. That way I have some for the next time this problem arises.
I also finally broke down and accepted a script for the damned migraines...
While we are on the issue of getting older, I would like to implore people I might come in contact with in public to please use a shower or bath to deal with general body odor, rather than dousing yourself in perfume or cologne. Seriously, this is just fucking gross. I have absolutely nothing against wearing scent, but that should be something you share with your partner or others you invite into your personal bubble - we should not smell it more than a foot or so away from you.
In all honesty, I would much rather smell your sweat than take in the general ambiance of a French whorehouse. When you inflict your choice of scent on others, it is just as rude as walking up to people and farting in their faces.
10 comments:
Hang in there, dear. You are halfway through the semester.
Friday evening, as my wife and I were leaving the workplace, we crossed a parking lot to get to our car. We encountered a very strong cloud of flowery perfume. No one was within thirty feet of us. Someone heading to one of the bars must have been marinating in the stuff for hours.
I just hit 45 last month, DuWayne. I work with a lot of elderly people, and several of them make it a point to tell me, "Don't ever get old, Dan." I'm aging, and my body is showing signs of wear and tear, but I'm not letting the part that's 'me' get old.
Just finishing up round 2 of antibiotics, still having fevers and night sweats, swollen lymph nodes in neck. Waiting to call in the coming week to schedule a follow-up appointment.
Ordered a set of 6 replacement fuel injectors for the car. One of them shorts out after about 5 miles, then I have to wait 'til it cools down (1-2 hours) before I can drive again.
But I'm an atheist, and I'm a pragmatist, and I try to be optimistic. I'll get the car running better. The doctor will hopefully get me running better. I won't feel exhausted all the time and I can get back to having fun. For now, I'll listen to some more Tomoyasu Hotei and get ready for supper.
Greg says it's your birthday, Duwayne. Happy Birthday!
Mike
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Sympathize on the perfume issue. My chest suddenly feels like an elephant sat on my sternum, kind of like I imagine a heart attack begins, whenever I come across particular ones. Next time I think I'll blurt out, "Did someone run over a skunk nearby?" One physician at out hospital had to cancel his whole day of office visits and surgery because of a migraine triggered by a perfume encounter in an elevator.
The back isn't necessarily due to age. Student life can be tough on somebody who's used to being more active. And trust me, you're not old. How can you be? I'm older than you by several years.
And a happy belated birthday.
Happy birthday, DuWayne - while recovering from my first major illness of my life, I understand being bewildered and bummed when the pains of age strike. Listen to a pharmacologist and take the prescriptions when you need them. We still don't know its mechanism of action but Flexeril is an amazing drug for back pain.
I hope you get a little time to do something fun today.
So was it your birthday when you wrote this "get off my damn lawn" post, or is it today? I'm confused. Either way, congrats on making it around the sun one more time!
I called myself "old" until recently, when my mother got wind of it and took deep offense. What did she expect? The teenagers I presently encounter at the DMV were born when I was halfway through high school! Still, as my little sister says, she was not impressed by my "feigned elderliness". She was not amused at all.
I turned thirty with great reluctance and remain altogether unconvinced that there is any life worth living after one's twenties. But that is probably just my "mental" brain talking. I have stopped calling myself old in my endeavors to think more positively. What the hell. Might as well. The alternative to aging-- indeed, the alternative to at least trying in earnest to adopt a more positive attitude toward many challenges-- is far more dreadful.
At any rate, DuWayne's birthday was on the 20th. No one born on the vernal equinox can ever grow old. :)
Hmmm...Fifty minus five beats my forty minus six...I hope you get better soon Dan.
Stephanie -
The back is as much the result of roofing for five years, as it is age. But age certainly has played a part. I realize that I am not all that old yet, I am just frustrates at having crossed that point where one goes from healing quickly to not so much...
Abel -
Oh, I am totally impressed with Flexeril. Though I may now have a permanent recurring relationship with this particular problem, I know that I have something that will help.
Jason -
My actual birthday was Saturday and this post has nothing to do with it.
Juniper -
You may have something there love. My astrological chart was quite indicative of a great deal of complexity...
"My astrological --"!? Don't make me come down there! You're not too old yet for a beatin'!
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