Hello Pain

Turning eighty was magnificent.

(See “Welcome to My Blog”. )

My eighty-first birthday was even better.

(See my posts “Cross-Country Road Tripping at 80. Plus 1.” and “My 41-Year-Long Road Trip” for validation.)

But pain hit me hard as I turned 81 and a half.
I know only children and old people count their half birthdays, but here I am.

I knew some health challenge was going to come. A person can’t move blithely along toward a goal of one hundred years without health challenges. And I was also very much aware that most of my age mates had already had major health challenges well before their eightieth birthday. Never having been a careful steward of my own health, I was just coasting along due to the benefits of good genes.

But my diagnosis was a surprise. Came out of the blue, so to speak. Although it actually had been percolating for a long time.

“Bilateral primary osteoarthritis of the knee; prominent degenerative changes in both SI joints.”

Whoa! Pain on standing up from my beloved office chair where I spend a good part of my day. Or from any chair. Never mind trying to climb the bleachers at a basketball game. Pain on standing, which definitely interfered with cooking for Christmas. Time I can stand still without pain? About five minutes.

It wasn’t only a surprise to me. I had to turn down an invitation to go dancing with a group of fifty-year old women friends whom I am fortunate to have a friendship with. On hearing this, one mentioned how “active” I’ve always been. Over Christmas, my twelve-year old granddaughter said, “Ok Lita. Let’s make a deal. Don’t die.”

So now what?

I turned down offers for meloxicam and/or gabapentin. I’m not going that route if I can help it. I did do Tylenol for a couple of days on our holiday trip to Montreal with the grandchildren.

I signed up for two separate rounds of physical therapy. (They can’t treat the knee and the back at the same time! They can’t even treat both knees at the same time.) And I’m working those exercises.

I’ve started taking ginger as some new studies suggest this is helpful for knee pain. I will likely add turmeric after I give the ginger a solo run for a while to test its efficacy.

I will take a course on pain management at the Center for Mental Health and Aging, a magnificent center headed by the brilliant and beautiful Dr. Regina Koepp.

I will consider corticosteroids if offered.

And I will call on my positive psychology resources, starting with:

• Paying attention to when I’m not in pain. Which on reflection, I’ve realized, is most of the time. No pain when I’m sitting. No pain walking for short distances (like the grocery store) on flat surfaces. That’s a lot.

• Being grateful that I’ve lived without pain or major illness for eighty years. What an amazing gift.

• And as Leonard Cohen advised, I will remember to:
  “Ring the bells that still can ring
  Forget your perfect offering

  There is a crack, a crack in everything

  That’s how the light gets in.”

That’s where I am for now, dear readers. How about you and your relationship with pain? I’d love to hear how you are coping with pain as you age.