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Getting old sucks


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30 minutes ago, RamjetFDO said:

I had to do all of this with my WWII-veteran grandfather in his last 5 years.  He was fiercely independent but started having more and more "car issues".  I can give you some awesome stories another time (some funny, some "oh shit"), but no matter how hard we tried to convince him (including me "anonymously reporting him" to DPS and them forcing him to take a driving test - WHICH HE SOMEHOW PASSED!), it was just like your dad ... it wasn't until *he* decided and accepted his limitations that he stopped driving.

"Helping" him in his last 5-10 years was probably the greatest thing I've ever done, short of raising two good citizen kids.  While it was tough, challenging (from him more often than not!), and a definite impact on life for me ... I would not have changed a single second of it.  I would swing by after work several days a week and just hang out.  A lot of the times, he'd have the channel with "Andy Griffith", or some western on, and he'd fall asleep in his chair for 30 minutes.  

I miss that old guy ...  he was my hero.  I strive to be half the man he was.

Yeah.  I have been remiss in my my "spend time with the old man" duties.  My job is demanding, time is short, all of the bullshit excuses.....none of which matter.  Will be changing that post-haste, especially now that he's losing his big-picture mobility.

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2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Yeah.....I need to get my dad a fall-alert watch/bracelet or something like that.  He is alone there in his house, and if he fell, I might not know for a day. 

Check with his insurance.  My mother's insurance covered one of those monitored bracelets 100%.

ETA:  check out 

 

Edited by Jerry Callo
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I'm a little jealous of y'all. My dad died 43 years ago and I never got to be with him as he aged. (Mom died 50 years ago and it sucks even more). And my batshit crazy stepmother lived to be 94 but luckily in another state.

I watched my father in law go through it though. I guess we were fortunate that he lost his ability to drive pretty quickly and knew it, so there wasn't any pushback. However what killed him was the ability to do things. He worked on a/c's all his life and it killed him when he had to pay someone to do it for him. I told him the reason he busted his butt when he was young so that he could pay someone to do the things he could no longer do. He knew it was true but it was still rough. I just hope if/when I get there, I remember to go easy on my kids. 

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I love the last series of posts; good on y'all.

I did take care of my dad’s recreational needs, taking him fishing once weekly, weather permitting, for the last 13 years of his life. The Saturday prior to his death, I was talking about how we were going to engineer him getting into and out of the boat on our next trip, and he said, “Son, your stepmom has moved mountains keeping me alive lately. You really think I'm going to just announce that I'm going fishing?”

So now I get the opportunity to shuttle mom to MD Anderson for chemo and all the corresponding visits. My sister put her life in MN on pause, flew in, and handled the first 1/2; now it's my turn.

Like Brisket, my mom lives 5 minutes from me, and I'm fortunate that I can drop food off, take care of the chores, and flush her chemo picc line every day.

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My wife and her mother (94) are in the winding down process now.  My MIL is confused about stuff, was talking to my wife yesterday thinking she was her oldest friend and had to be reminded who she was talking to. Her mother is stubborn and proud and so is resistant to being helped but is getting where she won’t take her medication or eat regularly. 

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14 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

 I was talking about how we were going to engineer him getting into and out of the boat on our next trip, and he said, “Son, your stepmom has moved mountains keeping me alive lately. You really think I'm going to just announce that I'm going fishing?”
 

Dumb And Dumber GIF

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Geez that is rough. Positive vibes sent y’all’s way. There is something poetic about that ending, but I'm sure it feels like a tragedy right now.

This morning I shaved my mom’s head. She had about 15% of her normal mane left after 3 rounds of chemo so I got out my norelco one touch and finished the job. I'm calling her Captain Picard now. But she has a wig that evokes Jane Fonda.

Also, I have found my one true love, the most beautiful raven-haired-tattood latina goddess-woman-nurse I have ever encountered. Visit the waiting room on the 2nd floor of the Mays building at MD Anderson if you want to share my infatuation.

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Woke up last Friday with a sore right calf.  Did some squats, lunges and deadlifts the night before, so I assumed it was a strained muscle.  Pain came and went throughout the weekend while I was duck hunting and wade fishing down at the coast, but nothing major.  It got worse Sunday overnight and kind of culminated with very acute pain Monday morning, then subsided.  I elevated it, iced it, and took some Ibuprofen, then went to work.  I was thinking maybe gout, but wasn't sure since it was more in the muscle than a joint.  The pain ebbed and flowed throughout the week, and it was a little swollen and slightly warm to the touch, so I made a doctor's appointment this morning.  The doctor said he thought it was a muscle strain and “a less than 1% chance it’s a clot, but let’s do blood work to rule it out.”  Guess I’m the lucky 1%.  They ordered a stat ultrasound, and I was able to get one at 4 PM today.  

For the record, I just turned 45.  I'm very active and never sick.  Work out 3-4 times per week including running 10-15 miles per week.  No traumatic injuries.  No surgery.  A tad overweight, and probably drink more than I should, but normal BP, don't smoke, and eat pretty clean.  BUT, I had what I think was covid in late December.  That's the only thing I can think of that may have caused it.  

It's hell getting old. 

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Woke up last Friday with a sore right calf.  Did some squats, lunges and deadlifts the night before, so I assumed it was a strained muscle.  Pain came and went throughout the weekend while I was duck hunting and wade fishing down at the coast, but nothing major.  It got worse Sunday overnight and kind of culminated with very acute pain Monday morning, then subsided.  I elevated it, iced it, and took some Ibuprofen, then went to work.  I was thinking maybe gout, but wasn't sure since it was more in the muscle than a joint.  The pain ebbed and flowed throughout the week, and it was a little swollen and slightly warm to the touch, so I made a doctor's appointment this morning.  The doctor said he thought it was a muscle strain and “a less than 1% chance it’s a clot, but let’s do blood work to rule it out.”  Guess I’m the lucky 1%.  They ordered a stat ultrasound, and I was able to get one at 4 PM today.  
For the record, I just turned 45.  I'm very active and never sick.  Work out 3-4 times per week including running 10-15 miles per week.  No traumatic injuries.  No surgery.  A tad overweight, and probably drink more than I should, but normal BP, don't smoke, and eat pretty clean.  BUT, I had what I think was covid in late December.  That's the only thing I can think of that may have caused it.  
It's hell getting old. 

45 old? Just wait young whippersnapper.
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1 hour ago, Tylerocks said:

That being said, I thought I pulled my groin the other day getting into my wife's car, so there's that...


Riding in my wife’s car right now. Hits close to home. Damn thing is like a small church: no ballroom.

Bout need a crane to get off the ground and out of it too. 

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So I have self-diagnosed to have cubital tunnel syndrome. There is a dull pain in my right elbow when I wake up. After stretching it out and trying to keep my arm straight during the day, the ache goes away. There isn't any tingling or numbness, just a low grade pain. Looks like I will need to wear a brace when I go to bed...
 

Quote

Cubital tunnel syndrome symptoms are often worse in the morning, particularly upon waking up, because most people sleep with their elbows bent which compresses the ulnar nerve in the cubital tunnel throughout the night, leading to numbness and tingling in the fingers upon waking up

When you sleep with your elbow bent, the ulnar nerve gets compressed in the cubital tunnel, causing symptoms to worsen overnight and be most noticeable upon waking up. 

 

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Actually, it's only bad for the first day. Overnight it just fades to being sore. The actual needle stick isn't painful - not much more so than any other hypo. After an hour, when the anesthetic wears off, it's like having a hair in the eye, but I use a bandana headband as an eye-patch, keeps the eye shut, and it's more annoying than painful. It's also inconvenient, having basically no depth perception at all. 

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On 1/30/2025 at 6:09 PM, Tex Long said:

Actually, it's only bad for the first day. Overnight it just fades to being sore. The actual needle stick isn't painful - not much more so than any other hypo. After an hour, when the anesthetic wears off, it's like having a hair in the eye, but I use a bandana headband as an eye-patch, keeps the eye shut, and it's more annoying than painful. It's also inconvenient, having basically no depth perception at all. 

How long do you wait before having the other eye done? (Assume you don’t have both done at the same time)

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3 hours ago, CycleTex87 said:

How long do you wait before having the other eye done? (Assume you don’t have both done at the same time)

Occasionally, both. Usually alternating, monthly. Just the right one for several years until the left went into wet AMD. 

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I didn't know where to put this. I saw it on FB, but it's not dumbass. The guy raised sheep, so I thought aggy, but he's not screwing them so I didn't put it there. Since he was old and an insomniac and the first thing he did when he finished was go to the bathroom, I decided to put it here. In 1983 a 61 yo Australian sheepherder won a 544 mile ultramarathon. He did it because he accidentally woke up early after the first day and then proceeded to run for 4+ days straight without sleep. He showed up to the race in his overalls and muck boots, but switched to a pair of pants and a loaner pair of shoes. And he shuffled instead of running.         

https://allthatsinteresting.com/cliff-young   

 

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16 minutes ago, Crapinon said:

I didn't know where to put this. I saw it on FB, but it's not dumbass. The guy raised sheep, so I thought aggy, but he's not screwing them so I didn't put it there. Since he was old and an insomniac and the first thing he did when he finished was go to the bathroom, I decided to put it here. In 1983 a 61 yo Australian sheepherder won a 544 mile ultramarathon. He did it because he accidentally woke up early after the first day and then proceeded to run for 4+ days straight without sleep. He showed up to the race in his overalls and muck boots, but switched to a pair of pants and a loaner pair of shoes. And he shuffled instead of running.         

https://allthatsinteresting.com/cliff-young   

 

He’s an awesome story. Completely changed ultrarunning. Ran a bunch more too. 

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