Today I am 81 Years Old

The old rusty Nail

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

 

_{TODAY I AM 81 YEARS OLD}

_{Russell Burton, an old person}

_{Yep, today 15 January is my birth date and interestingly the same day (not year) as Martin Luther King’s birthday.  But, today his birthday will not be celebrated as I remember for these days the celebration day is tied onto a weekend for many workers so that it becomes a short vacation or a long weekend.  How strange in a way that he was born on what would be today Tuesday but it will not be celebrated for 6 days until the following Monday.  I understand the reasoning for this but somehow it takes away some of the significance of the celebration.  You know, moving someone’s birth date just to please those getting the day off seems like it is trivializing the occasion.}

_{As I write most of this, I am visiting my son and his family who live in Topeka Kansas.  He has an undiagnosed disease that I am helping him make his life more tolerable.  We returned a few days ago from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota where he underwent extensive diagnostic procedures that so far has cost $13,000.  Still, there is no diagnosis but it appears that he has some kind of disease where his muscles are unable to produce the energy needed to make them work.  So, he becomes tired easily and his aching muscles produce serious pain.  Hopefully, he will get a final diagnosis and prescribed treatment on the 18th of February when he is scheduled to return.}

_{I have noticed that it is cold this time of year in Topeka.  Not as cold as Rochester Minnesota but still more than what I would call chilly.  Of course coming from a warmer climate I am not use to this kind of weather.  I wear a heavy coat when I go outside here, but I see the natives walking about without any coat!  Brrrrr…}

_{My goodness the cost when medical practices are involved has certainly changed from what I remember as a young kid.  I think the office call was something like $5 and physicians made house calls!  My mother would always dress shabbily because it was thought that the poorer you looked the less the doctor would charge you.  Boy, not anymore!  Of course, then there was not much available for the physician to use for diagnostic procedures except the X-ray, a thermometer and poking at you.  And for infections there were no antibiotics.  So, even if it costs much much more at least these advanced ‘miracle’ diagnostic procedures and treatments are available and life expectancy has increased many years.}

_{As for myself I am a year older and interestingly I feel much better, perhaps even younger, than I did at the start of my last birth date. My leg surgery that I will write about in a later column has improved my quality of life a great deal and for old people quality of life becomes more important every day that we grow older. Quality of life was never much of an issue with me during my earlier life for I was healthy had a good job and lived the life that was comfortable.  Of course for me what was very important regarding my quality of life was my love for my work as a scientist.  I could not wait to get to work each day.  Having fun work during most of my life was important to me because my father hated his job.  He retired from the federal government as soon as he could which was at the age of 55.  On the other hand, since I enjoyed my work I retired when I was 68 and if the location of my job had not changed I would have stayed on a few more years.}

_{I started my career as a practicing veterinarian but I did not like clinical medicine so I sold my practice and went back to college and became a scientist.  I am so glad that I did not stay with a job that I did not like.}

_{Quality of life with old people can become a life or death decision as we look at some of our neighbors and friends who are less fortunate at the aging process.  Still, I wonder if my quality of life deteriorates to a level that I now believe would not be acceptable to me would I accept death without attempting some futile attempt to live just a bit longer.  I have two friends who chose two different paths in that regard.  One lived more than ten years as a paraplegic and the other decided that when her disease (ovarian cancer) returned she would not repeat the chemo treatments that she had taken previously with mixed results and many unpleasant side effects.  One day she told her husband that today is the day. She accepted death and prepared to die.  She lived several days without food as her dying body rejected any nutrition.  Simply it was time to die!}

_{So much for this gloom and doom I do feel great for my age and hope that this continues for several more years.  Oh I have some aches but it could be and has been far worse. My Uncle celebrated his 90th birthday last year and is doing fine.  So, I guess longevity prevails in my genes which is one predictor of life expectancy.}

_{My visit with my grandchildren is always interesting with some unexpected consequences.  They have reached the age when a visiting grandfather is not their number one priority.  Still my son believes that my relationship with them can become closer.  So I try with mixed results for I have to compete with smart phones and texting.} 

_{Tomorrow I fly home.} 

_{I am home in San Antonio Texas where it is warm.  I use to enjoy flying for it was kind of fun with some nice perks during the flight.  Not anymore.  To begin with, off comes the belt, shoes, coat, phone, coins, etc. before you even start for the boarding area.  This time I got the scanner that undresses you.  At least the woman running the machine didn’t laugh when she saw my poor old naked body.  I always fly Southwest Airlines for several reasons.  One big one is that where ever they fly I know it’s on Southwest not some contracted airline that you think belongs to the airline company that you started with.  I would think that in big bold letters someplace a notice would suddenly appear stating that you are leaving the real airline and flying on the plane operated by the lowest bidder.} 

_{Now that I am home, I am settling in and getting back to my schedule.  Routines are important for old people.  When I go to the gym if a machine that I use has been moved, I get upset.  I don’t know why but I just do.  I don’t remember doing so when I was younger but I do now!  I will be taking it easy for a few days even though I feel fine.  I did go for my hour walk this morning the day after I got home.  Yesterday I was most of the day unpacking that I should have done in less than a hour.  IT’S GOOD TO LOAF FOR A DAY OR TWO.}

_{My back is much better since I recently bought a new mattress and pillows.  I was not aware of the range in costs of both mattresses that can reach more than $3000 and a single pillow can cost as much as $150. It’s silly that I waited so long to get a new mattress as my back has been hurting for years.  Not until I read that mattresses should be replaced every 6-8 years to protect your back did I decide that a new mattress was in order.  Mine was 12 years old and it was used when I got it with a condo I bought.}

_{Well, with that bit of home spun advice I close wishing you all a happy Martin Luther King Day and a happy Russell Burton Day for the ole rusty nail.}