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Getting old kind of sucks

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just talked to one of our maintenance guys that I've known for awhile.

He had a heart attack 2 weeks ago. 95% blockage. Had stents put in. He's 54, doesn't smoke, no family history of heart problems, active lifestyle.

/unsettling
 
You think 40 is bad? Wait for the next 10 years. I just turned 50. From 40 to 50 I had cataract surgery in my right eye. I had surgery for arthritis where the big toe joins my right foot. That took a year to heal. I had surgery for a detached retina in my left eye only to have two more tears in the opposite part of the same eye a month later. Then major surgery to repair that. Was told to expect a cataract in that left eye within two years. A month later I was telling the doc that it would be sooner as everything was blurry in that eye. Six months later I had cataract surgery in the left eye. Well, due to the cataract surgeries being six years apart they couldn't give me corrective vision. They had to match up the lenses. So, now I'm super near sighted in both eyes. Hair started thinning at 40 as well. Don't have the chrome dome, but at 50 I feel like I'm doing a little comb over (not Donald Trump comb over) and am getting some gray on the sides. Not to mention, it seems my teeth are rotting out no matter how good I take care of them. On the good side, I lost 50 pounds a year ago and feel great.

My wife has stage IV cancer and is on experimental targeted chemo for over a year now. We've been married almost 24 years and that sucks. Also, got call from 75 year old mother in January. Her cancer has returned after being in remission for four years. It's all over and she's terminal. It's the crappy part of your life that would come eventually if it didn't come for you first.

My doctor had the colonoscopy talk in January at my annual. I don't have a family history so I was just given a fecal take at home and mail it in test. Haven't heard back from them so I assume all is good. Yay to getting older!
 
I'll be turning 39 this year and yeah, there are changes as I get older.

Things I used to do when I was younger (in my 20s)....

  • Jumping down from a height of 8 feet... now it looks like 20 feet and scary as shit!
  • Riding any sort of spinny ride... now I get sick just thinking about it.
  • I can eat and drink whatever the hell I want and as much as I want... now I get sick if I eat too much sugar or too much alcohol.
  • Pickup game of full contact rugby or football... now I'm scared of knee and back injury.
  • Have sex multiple times in a day... now I'm lucky to get laid (without getting caught by kids or not too tired).
  • I could be sleep deprived for months at a time... now I can't function if I'm sleep deprived even a day.
  • Somehow travel with no money... now it's a major event, requires planning and lot's of $$$.
 
I have had 11 colonoscopies and 2 major surgeries. I have a serious inflammatory gut problem going on 14 years. I'm ALMOST 40. Yes aging sucks balls.
 
You guys are making me feel good with just a heart attack and a bad back with occasional bouts of sciatica at 56.
 
The "test" is not that bad, thanks to pharmaceuticals.

Staying up the night before "studying" for the "test".... blows groceries.
 
UnklSnappy said:
You guys are making me feel good with just a heart attack and a bad back with occasional bouts of sciatica at 56.
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you should see the haters celebrating whenever my turf toe acts up. geez, wait until it's a tumor.

confucius say, small loss prevent big calamity
 
chitwood said:
just talked to one of our maintenance guys that I've known for awhile.

He had a heart attack 2 weeks ago. 95% blockage. Had stents put in. He's 54, doesn't smoke, no family history of heart problems, active lifestyle.

/unsettling
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Does he consume a lot of sugar / HFCS? It's not well known, but sugar is actually a lot more a serious risk of heart attack, than fats or cholesterol.
 
VirtualLarry said:
Does he consume a lot of sugar / HFCS? It's not well known, but sugar is actually a lot more a serious risk of heart attack, than fats or cholesterol.
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I believe that sugar is a more serious risk for everything compared to fat or cholesterol...being a fatty chief among those risks.

blockage is crazy though--exercise (Cardio) is probably the best thing you can do to prevent that, regardless of diet.
 
It was a typo I swear!
The L key on my ducky keyboard is fakey at times. 😉
The keyboard on my 2016 mbp sometimes adds an extra : when typing emoticons.
Must be the sea air.
I however, cannot see air.
Unless it's full of dust.
Be careful of the dust you breathe for you carry it every day.
All those hostile Ra parts, attacking the lungs.
Every day thereafter is a gift as the wise man would say...
 
After an appendectomy a little over a month ago I found out I was also diabetic. I've been going bald for 5ish years and sometimes I'm sore for unknown reasons

I'm only 30, at this rate I feel like 60 will be a good life
 
Update for any who are interested. I am still alive. Test was fine - there was one polyp, which was removed. Results say it is was an adenomatous polyp - a common type of "pre-cancerous" polyp. So all in all - I am glad I did the test as it allowed the polyp to be removed before it could become problematic. That said, I am not looking forward to going through the "void and violate" process every five years. I am also disappointed by the fact that they could not remove the score of gerbils and the mini-Eiffel tower that were clearly visible on the recording.
 
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Sho'Nuff said:
Update for any who are interested. I am still alive. Test was fine - had one poly removed. Results say it is was an adenomatou polyp - a common type of "pre-cancerous" polyp. So all in all - I am glad I did the test as it allowed the polyp to be removed before it could become problematic. That said, I am not looking forward to going through the "void and violate" process every five years. I am also disappointed by the fact that they could not remove the score of gerbils and the mini-Eiffel tower that were clearly visible on the recording.
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Haha. Congratulations on your test. I saw that they now have noninvasive colon testing kits http://www.cologuardtest.com/. Going to ask my doctor to write me a prescription if my insurance covers it.

Here is another. http://www.npr.org/sections/health-...asive-colon-cancer-test-thats-fit-to-be-tried
 
Sho'Nuff said:
Update for any who are interested. I am still alive. Test was fine - had one poly removed. Results say it is was an adenomatou polyp - a common type of "pre-cancerous" polyp. So all in all - I am glad I did the test as it allowed the polyp to be removed before it could become problematic. That said, I am not looking forward to going through the "void and violate" process every five years. I am also disappointed by the fact that they could not remove the score of gerbils and the mini-Eiffel tower that were clearly visible on the recording.
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good luck to you, but I would advise to not write-off an adeno-anything. Rather than depend on a 5-year purge and butt scope, you need to at least do annual blood screens and check your liver enzymes. I very much wish that I don't have familiarity with "pre cancerous" polyps being removed where, several years later: bam! adenocarcinoma!, but I do. This isn't meant to worry you, more to advise you to stay on top of it. If you do, then you will likely be fine. Adenocarcinoma is nothing to trifle with.
 
zinfamous said:
good luck to you, but I would advise to not write-off an adeno-anything. Rather than depend on a 5-year purge and butt scope, you need to at least do annual blood screens and check your liver enzymes. I very much wish that I don't have familiarity with "pre cancerous" polyps being removed where, several years later: bam! adenocarcinoma!, but I do. This isn't meant to worry you, more to advise you to stay on top of it. If you do, then you will likely be fine. Adenocarcinoma is nothing to trifle with.
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Oh I agree. I didn't mean to imply that I am not taking the findings seriously. I plan to fully cooperate with whatever my doctor advises re: appropriate follow up and ongoing monitoring.
 
40 is just a number. I felt older at 45, when things didn't work as well as they had at 40. My vision has been deteriorating since 42, and I can no longer read fine print like a Windows COA without reading glasses. I'm 48 now, but after taking a seasonal job at FedEx from November til January, I dropped those last problematic 15 lbs. I was around 200 lbs at my worst, down to 170 now and feel healthier than I did at 40. Working an 8 hour IT job followed by 5 hours of loading 53' trailers will definitely restart the metabolism !!
Had a colonoscopy at around 31 if I recall correctly. I gave the nurse a hug on my way out the door, which made my wife chuckle about that all the way home. Sho, the knee will heal up. You will be in a better place once the realization that getting older is something everybody deals with, and you either live with that fact, or you give up and let it consume you. Do us a favor and hang around to entertain us for a few more decades.
 
Sho'Nuff said:
Oh I agree. I didn't mean to imply that I am not taking the findings seriously. I plan to fully cooperate with whatever my doctor advises re: appropriate follow up and ongoing monitoring.
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that's good, but just be aware that many physicians can write off pre-cancer if they successfully remove the polyps with no trouble. Even if they say not to worry about it and just stick to the colon scope every number of years, get yourself blood screened every year, anyway.
 
Sho'Nuff said:
OK, getting old is better than the alternative. But this year instead of being "just one more year" with no real impact, its turning into the year of "lets see how much Sho'Nuff's body can fall apart and/or be poked or prodded."

For those of you not in the know, I turned 40 a few days ago. Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm an old fart. Time to break out the pill boxes, fiber bars, all that good stuff.

Unfortunately, mother nature has decided to play some nasty tricks on me recently. It started innocently enough, when about 2 weeks ago she sent warm weather and heavy rain, which unfortunately caused my basement to flood. Then she got nasty, and sent my mother into town. Which sounds just fine until you realize that my mother has turned into a raving born again christian who thinks I am the devil and am going to hell because my kids don't wear their "I love jesus" t-shirts 24-7.

Shortly following my mother's departure, I had my annual physical - during which time my primary care doctor told me that in view of my family history, I need to have some intimate private time with that marvel of modern technology known as the colonoscope. And guess what, she exclaims! Your GI doc has an appointment next Tuesday (i.e., tomorrow). Which, it just so happens, is just 3 days after my birthday. Thus, rather than eating all the artery clogging, bad for me food that I like on my birthday, I was on a restricted diet. And today, I got to experience the awesome power of moviprep (aka - the gag inducing, toilet rupturing solution of death). My life today has been a mixture of the movie "groundhog day" and the toilet scene from "Dumb and Dumber." Huzzah!


To cap it all off - my left knee decided to give me the big "FU" about 6 months ago. Almost 40 years with 0 problems, and my knee decides that its going to take a dirt nap the same year I am going to be roto rootered by Dr. Nick. I'm convinced its just mother nature's way of saying "Ha ha! You can't run away from the colonoscope now you bastard - so you might as well enjoy it!"

Gah!
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I know you don't want to hear this but it is just getting started. Wait in a few years you will have a whole laundry list of age related ailments.You'll get to start your day with a pile of fiber supplements, Metformin, some type of Cholesterol drug, Maybe a blood pressure drup, A big honkin multivitamin for men 50+, A vitamin d supplement and a vitamin B12 supplement to stop the muscle cramps caused by the metformin therapy. You'll also find yourself planning changes to your home to avoid stairs and bending over or getting down on your knees for anything. You will be adjusting your diet to keep your diverticulitis from flaring up. The list is almost endless. Welcome to the Geriatrics club. Walker races are at 7 in the common room.
 
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