Surviving the Senior Citizen Years

  As you age, you may slow your pace and even drive slower. While these are issues, they don’t mean you can’t get around.   My walking is much slower and more deliberate than it used to be. My Meniere’s and Parkinson’s disease have much to do with it. I walk with a cane primarily for balance, especially if I’m out of the house and going somewhere. Even when I’m walking with my wife, I use a cane. I wouldn’t say I liked it initially, but I got used to mobility aids. Sometimes, you must do what you must do.   Going up and down steps can be tricky as well. We don’t have many steps in the house. We live on a split level, and it's only seven steps to get upstairs. I had fallen those seven steps and got bruised, but luckily, I didn’t break anything. The key is always to be alert and keep one hand on the railing. Not everyone gets as immobile as I do. My sister and her husband are regular Blue Ridge Mountain hikers older than me. I don’t think I’ll be hitching on any ...

    Ageism in society has been around forever, although it seems to be worse now. Most folks used to equate age with wisdom. Of course, that’s not always the case. Just because someone is retired doesn’t mean they know everything. But it also doesn’t mean their brains are shrunk and useless. Well, let’s think about this. Ageism in the workplace exists, but companies don't admit it. Why don’t they like folks over sixty? It could be that they are making more money than someone who was just recently hired. Ageism in healthcare  Another myth is that older folks have more health problems than younger people. I don’t think there is any evidence to back that up. Now, some companies cherish older workers because of the knowledge they have acquired over the years. Those are the companies you want to stick with. It isn’t just a problem at work; being in public can also have its challenges for senior citizens. Being slower can make some folks roll their eyes while waiting for ...

  Your body is older and certainly isn’t as strong as when you were young. Things sag and sometimes ache. You get out the salve and lay it on the muscles thick, knowing that you’ll have to continue to care for your body more and more through the years. You knew this time was coming, but what can you do? Do you dream of the old days? Most do, but it doesn’t help, does it? Life is a process of stages, and if you are older, you are in a stage that takes a lot out of you.   “I used to be able to run faster, lift more weights, and do activities where I didn’t strain myself, requiring days of recovery.” It's true but remember that things are different. Life can still be enjoyable even though you can’t go full out anymore. And everyone fortunate enough to get older is in the same boat. While it's okay to enjoy memories of days gone by, the life you lead now can be just as sweet. It’s a matter of having the right mindset and knowing that limitations affect us all. Diet and e...

    Everyone gets sad and melancholy at some point in their lives. Maybe it’s a parent who has passed away. Or perhaps a relationship ending happens to everybody. Most folks usually move on and recover. Depression is a little different. It’s a feeling that can come out of nowhere and stay with you. This often happens to older folks who find it challenging to deal with the senior citizen years, isolation, and then deal with depression.   Depression is a disorder that isn’t always accepted by people who don’t understand what it means to be depressed. Today, the public is more understanding than in years past. They considered that depression was just a bad attitude or a weakness.   In years past, some tried to self-medicate by drinking, which made it worse. Alcohol is a depressant.   In my own case, I felt something was not quite right in high school. I came from a typical family. I had friends, and most of the time, things appeared all right...

  I can remember a time when I didn’t take any pills daily. It was quite a while ago. I felt physically fit; I ran a few miles daily and lifted weights. That was a long time ago.   Fast forward forty years, and I’m now on a bucket of pills every day—pills for this and pills for that. The last few years of my father’s life, he took what seemed like quite a bit of medication. He had heart disease and died in 1977 at the age of 61. I guess without the meds, he would have died sooner. Of course, in 1977, there weren’t many options for someone who had severe artery blockage.   My problems aren’t heart problems. I still take blood pressure and cholesterol medicine, just the same. The thing that always bothers me when a doctor suggests a new drug is the interaction with the numerous pills that I already take. Even though they assure me there shouldn’t be a problem, sometimes there is. With the advent of the internet age and Google, you can check up on any medication. It’...

  Try a little Gratitude   At times it’s hard to be grateful for anything. Your body aches, your memory isn’t so great and things that used to be easy aren’t anymore. I know. But reaching the senior citizen years is a gift for most people.   I miss being able to drive. The last four years have been difficult because I feel uncomfortable behind the wheel. In the past, I’ve had vertigo attacks while I was driving, and it’s very frightening. The worst attack came about a mile away from my home. I was driving with no problem, and then my vision turned upside down. Luckily, there was a firehouse station close by. Unfortunately, the firehouse was empty; I think they were out on an emergency. Someone did pull over and call 911. After that episode, I was very hesitant to get behind the wheel.   But you know what? I didn’t get hurt, and someone stopped and helped me out. I will be forever grateful to that lady. And I have my wife of 38 years who supports me a...

What did you say?  This must be one of the most exacerbating things that have happened to me over the last few years. Due to my Meniere’s disease problems, I have lost about 80 percent of my hearing. I can no longer talk on the phone or have a normal conversation without asking someone to repeat what they said.   I went to my ENT about five years ago when things started to get bad, and he told me there wasn’t much he could do. We tried a bombardment of steroids. It didn’t work. The next step was a hearing aid. I was stunned when I learned my wife’s insurance paid for it. The only one they paid for was the cheapest one, and it didn’t work. It was more of an amplifier than a hearing aid.   It's discouraging because I can’t listen to music and watching TV or movies with closed captions doesn’t always work.   My son suggested that I learn sign language. But who would I communicate with since no one in my family knows sign language either?   ...

  Water under the bridge for senior citizens I’m sure many of us wish there was a time machine to take us back to a place where we made decisions that affected our future lives. We can’t do it. Dwelling on the past can be debilitating and emotionally draining. Things would have been great if we had just done this or that. I’m guilty of this as well. I wasted time in college pursuing an economics degree. Why economics? It was easy and didn’t have a heavy class requirement. That was my thinking: to get through college the easiest way possible, and like magic, I would have a job waiting for me. Of course, it didn’t happen. Jobs were hard to come by when I graduated in 1980, and a vague degree like economics wasn’t helpful. I wish I had investigated other career paths, but I didn’t think of that then. So, I ended up at a shoe store for a year. After another year of wasted time, I moved from Pennsylvania to Georgia, which was a good move. It took a while to find a good job, but on...

  While physical exercise is essential, exercising your brain is just as important. Dementia is a scary prospect when you get older. Everyone knows someone or has a family member in those dire straits. It’s sad to see and frightening to think it could happen to you. There is no absolute cure for dementia, but there are things you can do to reduce your chances of having it. Can I Prevent Dementia? (alzheimers.gov) It is a great site and very informative. I worry about dementia quite a bit because of my Parkinson’s disease diagnosis and my isolation. I have been writing for many years, and I believe it has helped me. I also read a lot as well. You can also do other things like crossword puzzles, problem-solving games, jigsaw puzzles, and more. Proper diet and exercise combined with critical thinking are a great combination. Comments are always welcome David  

What’s holding me back from improving things in my life? Well, me, I guess. I can blame the health issues till I’m blue in the face, which makes matters worse.   I’ve found that being negative about everything in life is easier than trying to find happiness and contentment somewhere. Change can be difficult. It’s difficult for me as well. I’m attempting to change my diet to include more fiber. Reece’s cups do not have fiber. Never do chocolate ice cream or potato chips. I’ve never loved fruit , but I add an apple or an orange daily.   As well as low-fat yogurt. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a start. I’m also walking a little with my wife. It's not much, maybe 15 minutes, but it helps. I’ll increase the distance as I feel more comfortable with it. I have found some stretching exercises that seem helpful. You must start somewhere. Just don’t overdo it. If you do, you might injure yourself or get frustrated and quit entirely. You don’t want to do that. I’ll ...

  Starting out... I am in the dreaded Elderly category. I’m almost 67, and I feel it. But then again, it might be the assorted ailments that I deal with, like Parkinson’s disease, Meniere’s disease, and depression. I’m trying to deal with all this the best I can.  Maybe this blog thing will work out. Although my physical ability has decreased, I don’t think my cognitive skills have dropped much. My short-term memory is a little shaky, though. For example, why am I in the kitchen, and what would I look up on Google? Everybody gets those moments, I think. What will I do about all these problems (should have said challenges)? I read, write, and try to push myself. I hope that works. Over the past few years, I've self-published fiction books , which helped shape my cognitive skills. I never made much money from them; I probably broke even, but I enjoyed writing them anyway. I’m now writing short stories and submitting them to online magazines. Writing, for me, has alw...