Of the things I miss most

[cs]

I miss my knees the most.

I've come to realize that I probably will not be able to play football again. No more will I be able to race BMX bikes and motocross is probably out of the question.

I'm starting to get a little worried about the knee. I may have to go have it checked out. I don't limp much anymore, but the range of motion is still not there and the other day while wrestling for my pillow I hurt it again. It doesn't hurt all the time, only when I try to bend it beyond 90 degrees.

I guess that is just a sign of getting older. Although I will only be 42 in a couple of weeks my knees feel older. I never thought 42 was old and I hate the fact that I feel the pain at such an early age.

Chad

[geeman]

wrestling for your pillow?????????????

[Mrleft8]

Get used to it. It only gets worse.

[geeman]

I turned 55 on the 5th,I wake up EVERY morning aching.When I try to get out of bed I have to test my legs to make sure I have enough blood flow to make them work.If they will hold me up and respond to commands I shuffle to where ever I'm going until I think I can actually lift my feet to take steps.The 1st stop is usually the dresser where the pain meds are.YA , it gets worse as you get older,,,,,,,,,

[ishmael]

I'm not a big fan of docs in general, and surgeons in particular, but in this case surgery might make a huge difference. Don't know what's goin' on with your knee(s) but it would be worth having a good doc take a look.

[geeman]

I agree with Jack Chad,you oughta at least go and have them check it out.Wondering and worrying about it aint helping either.

[geeman]

I see young people today abusing their bodies,doing dangerous things in the search for that mental high .They have no concept of what their doing to themselves and what it will cost them in the future.All they know is their having fun and its a rush right now.The old saying "If ya play ya gotta pay" comes to mind when I see kids doing what they do .

[Norman Bernstein]

I turned 55 on the 5th, I wake up EVERY morning aching....

Wow.... I turned 55 on the 5th, as well... Happy Birthday, geman!

However, I don't wake up aching. I'm certainly not in any sort of 'fit' physical condition (never been particularly big on excercise and athletics), but by and large, I mostly feel OK.

The thing I do notice, however, that I attribute to age is 'recovery time'. If I should twist my ankle, it takes several weeks, not several days, for it to recover. If I lift a heavy dinghy motor (as I did on Sunday) and strain my back, I know it will take two weeks before the pain will completely subside. I developed tendonitis in my left elbow, and it took two months or more before I was able to say that the tenderness subsided.

Maybe some of this is actually arthritis; my mother is arthritic, but I've never persued it to find out if I am.

Maybe one definate sign of aging can be found in the kitchen cabinet over the sink; we buy Advil in 500 tablet bottles these days :D

[cs]

I don't want to sound like I'm whinning or anything like that. I just seems like an eye opener, this thing with my knee.

Yeah my knee hurt in the past and yes I was limited to what I could do because of the fact that they would go out. But they always came back.

I've been back from SD for a few weeks now and my knee has gotten to a point that it don't seem to be getting better and the slightest thing sets it off again.

Chad

[geeman]

Norm,Glad you dont have pain as you start your day.Pain is one of the reasons We converted the boat to electric.We simply cant handle lifting the heavy loads like we used to.Electric means no moving heavy cans of gas,etc.It put the fun back in boating for us.We're not in a hurry anyway,and enjoy hearing the water as we glide around the lake.I dont mind leaving the go-fast guys to thier persuit of speed at all.After my heart attack some years ago and then my wifes heart attack year before last we both find it harder to walk up the boat ramp now days.I have to walk up the ramp in a zig zag pattern because my legs give out on that up hill walk before I get to the top.This is in the off season after TVA has drawn the lake level down making the ramp MUCH longer.My stroke last year didnt help,but we enjoy as much as we can.

[geeman]

Chad ,, get it looked at, so you know what your dealing with.

[Dryer lint]

I guess I have to say that I miss my brain the most. I used to get up in the morning doing deep mind bends- real mind expanding stuff that would leave my head feeling slightly numb- a buzz almost.

But that has all changed now. I know I will never again do trigonometric equations or quantum physics with the verve and gusto of my youth. Why, simplyanswering the phone and remembering to say hello is a struggle most times.

Ah youth.

[TomF]

Seems there are big advantages in mid-life from not having been a hardcore jock in early life. Chad - I agree with those arguing for a surgeon to look at your knee. It made a world of difference to the one I blew out once doing karate.

[ishmael]

Do you know a nurse in the thick of things on a general care floor at a good local hospital? The reason I ask is that I was lovers for a number of years with a nurse at Case Western Reserve's hospital in Cleveland. The nurses know the dope if they've been there awhile. She(he) can steer you toward a good orthopedist.

You may have to just live with it and whine, but you might not have to. Won't know until you ask.

[Dryer lint]

ohh nurses. soooo hot!!!!!!

[Popeye]

what was his name?

[Mrleft8]

My father has had both knees replaced. He could barely walk. One late February he made an appointment to have his left knee replaced. They did the job in early April. He was golfing at St. Andrews in Scottland in mid June. The second knee was done a few years later, in May. He danced with my mother for the first time in probably 15 years at their 40th anniversary in June....

[geeman]

I've met a cple of nurses on line that are HOT!!!!!!!!! Very sensuous gals they be.However if you tell anybody I said that I'll deny it,,,,,,,,,, lol They may even know a thing or 2 about medicine,I forgot to ask,,,,,,,,

[ishmael]

So much for trying to be PC. Grin.

[geeman]

LOL 2 of the MOST useless words we have spawned in recent years was "Politically Correct"

[Wild Dingo]

oooh I dont know Chad... Having just had my bung right knee operated on (cartlidge tears :rolleyes: ) I sorta think I miss my once brilliant eyesight more... I mean I can take hobbling... really! I can even take the constant aching pain... I can!! No worries really...

But what Im havin trouble accepting is my slow and steady eyesight loss... man its a buggar! nah not blind just gettin there in a rush lately... I wear presciption glasses but theyre like kids magnifyin glasses nowadays with them I can just read if I hold a book an armslength from me head without them I cant see a flippin thing on a page no matter how far I reach! :eek: so Im gonna have to go get some more powerful glasses now :( which is a real buggarbumbastard :mad: You know once I could see tracks in the sand that others couldnt see? nowadays Id need a seein eye tracker to see it for me! :o I could read anything put in front of me bigger than a gnats phart now Im havin trouble readin things as big as an elephants!!

Now havin just had the right knee operated on Im startin to wonder when Im gonna have to have the left one done! bit of a worry eh?... thats had the occasional click happenin... sorta like the right one when it started playing up a couple of years ago... oh well at least I reckon Ive got a couple of years of niggling clicks and the inevitable whack to put it back where it belongs before it will totally give up like this one did :(

As to what the younguns get up to nowadays... well mate I dont think they get up to any less or more than we did in our younger days... man some of the things I got up to back when I was a young healthy full of beans and bad manners young fella scares the hell outta me... how I ever survived to reach almost 50 is beyond me entirely!! :eek: long haired goateed ravin roarin totally troppo lunatic in me hayday! ;) These younguns dont have a flamin clue how to have fun an survive!! :D

[geeman]

You may have a point there Dingo.I never was one to do the stupid stuff most kids did when I was young.Never got on motorcycles.Never jumped off roofs,none of the dangerous things most kids got into.But here I am,banged up by life,mornings like this one I'm sitting here trying to type and my hands are swollen to the point my typing is worse then usual, and it aint that good on a good day LOL.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Dingo - the deteriorating eyesight has just one advantage. - Best seen in the bathroom mirror.

[Wild Dingo]

ooooohh yeah too bloody right!! And why Im presently on a "I will never shave again" binge... scared the livin shyte outta meself last night when I went to shave get all the gear ready and stand to at the mirror

GAK!!! WHO THE BLOODY BLUE BLAZES IS THAT??? :eek:

I mean once was a time I was a bloody good lookin fella even if I do say so meself ;) And not so long ago neither I might just add :cool:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid216/p14f3544fec65196d6b5ef4a1807dc6fd/ec96c0e0.jpg

but seems that as me once firm taut 6pack evolves into a 30gal keg around me midsection and me once lush mane of dark hair turns WHITE so me once grand visage disappates into "GAK WHO THE BLOODY BLUE BLAZES IS THAT"... sigh

Bethy was goin through the pics on this computer earlier... good girl that she is ;) and sorting them... when this sudden burst of hysterical laughter eminates from where she sat
"Whassat bubs?" I ask from me perch in the livin room where Im watchin "Crossing Jordan" with Joshy
amid the cackling maniacal laughter I just work out the words "Check this out" and "What were you doin dad?"

So I hoisted ass and wandered in to see what had tickled her fancy...

And there he was "GAK WHO THE BLOODY BLUE BLAZES IS THAT"??... I mean this GWTBBBIT has invaded everything around here!! hes in the damned mirror hes in the bloody computer hes in the flamin photos... hes takin over!!! :eek:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid216/p14dfef66249323c37ba9ccc48afcf7aa/ec96c06d.jpg

Scarey? GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAZUS!! I do mean scarey!! :eek: Now Im startin to wonder should I do the humane thing and shoot the buggar or just wait for its next incarnation? I mean it might revert back to its original stunning good looks... mighten it?... nah bedda just shoot the buggar and be done bloody nuisance anyways :p

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid216/pfcc7de0806212c3b58d180af9c050712/ec96bbef.jpg

Hey!!! I just did a Joe!! Hyjacked a thread made it my own then posted pics of me own ugly fugly on it!! Whahoooooooo! :D oops sowwy Chadley ol son my bad! :o

[Dryer lint]

get a hair cut

[Meerkat]

Wait until what doesn't work is north of your knees! ;)

Let's see.... feet, ankles, thighs, neck... chest is good today... oh yeah, I'm still breathing - I'm good! ;)

[ishmael]

Chad,

Just one last note. If it's osteo-arthrititis from worn cartilage you might give glucosamine a try. The longitudinal studies I've read about it are a mixed bag, but when my knee acts up it seems to help. I broke my patella when I was a young'un, and every once in awhile things seem to be rubbed a bit raw. A month on the glucosamine and it's better. I buy the pills that only have glucosamine, not the stuff with chondritin which is rendered from cows. Something about hundreds of cows ending up in a pill, and the prion diseases out there, gives me the heebee jeebees.

Good luck. A bad knee is a distant second to a bad back. Right up next to it if your job requires a lot of up and down. The summer I broke my knee cap I was painting schools, and the ladders were pure hell for a couple weeks.

[John B]

Chad, we just spent a few days scraping and painting the deck on the boat. pain/groans, sore knees.....statements like " this isn't fun" and the gem from my wife later talking to a friend " yes... , old house , old car, old boat , old man, might be time to change and get some new things ... new house, new car new boat ( I interject) , Younger man ( she said)"


Yeah Dingo, get a haircut .Ya curly headed grey streaked runoverbyatruck old git.
Personally( being at least as old/ugly and as grey as you), I find it a little unnerving that women sheild their faces when I walk by ...,but then there is the advantage that them young ones.. you know the 40 yr olds( plus or minus 7 or so) leave you alone.

[Tristan]

I feel pretty lucky, will be 73 in Dec and my knees are still pretty good, no pain in the AM, but I do notice a loss of overall strength, particularly in the legs. My short term memory also sucks. And my short term memory sucks. PS. I exercise every morning and also a couple evenings a week, T'ai chi and chi kung. I also do a lot of yard work, boat work, and a bit of jiu-jitsu with my 16 year old son. Part of the strength problem is lack of testoserone, a byproduct of treatment for prostate CA. As a consequence I'm on my way to having female rather than male strength. Can't chin myself anymore (but that's complicated by a large ventral hernia) and my pushups are pretty feeble. Don't get old. Yeah, and my short term memory . . . did I already say that?

[BrianW]

My knees still aches from my sheep hunt, but only when going down stairs or a ramp.

Going up is not a problem.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Stand with feet about 6 inches apart, staying in balance and keeping the heels on the floor, bend knees, hips and ankles until butt is about four inches above the floor.

Still got the heels down?

Take the weight off the right foot, lift it clear of the floor and extend the leg until it is parallel to the floor - pinch big toe between thumb and forefinger - hold this stance for a slow count of ten.

Keeping the pinch, and the heel on the floor - stand up.

[cs]

Yeah right. I tried that just now and I can't even do the first part of that. I get beyond 90 bending and the knee starts screaming.

Chad

[botebum]

"Stand with feet about 6 inches apart, staying in balance and keeping the heels on the floor, bend knees, hips and ankles until butt is about four inches above the floor.

Still got the heels down?

Take the weight off the right foot, lift it clear of the floor and extend the leg until it is parallel to the floor - pinch big toe between thumb and forefinger - hold this stance for a slow count of ten.

Keeping the pinch, and the heel on the floor - stand up."
Ok PISN, thanks, now as soon as I can travel better than an earthworm- I'm gonna kick your ass!:D

Doug

[Tristan]

Stand with feet about 6 inches apart, staying in balance and keeping the heels on the floor, bend knees, hips and ankles until butt is about four inches above the floor.

Still got the heels down?

Take the weight off the right foot, lift it clear of the floor and extend the leg until it is parallel to the floor - pinch big toe between thumb and forefinger - hold this stance for a slow count of ten.

Keeping the pinch, and the heel on the floor - stand up.

I saw a fellow do this repeatedly, a Xing-i instructor named Vince Black. He was tall, maybe 6'3" and had a noticable belly. We all (in the Karate dojo) thought he looked "soft." How wrong we were. He had won the xing-i fighting world championship in China and apparantly his belly was full of chi, not blubber.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Yup, its a slightly odd move - not really about strength and not really about flexibility - more about balance and control.

Tip (for all you people who want to try this) Do Not Bounce - that is really dangerous.

[cs]

You know when you mentioned it I thought you were serious and tried it (not the bouncing). It don't work for me.

Chad

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

It's on - and can be done - the only people I've seen do it first time were very fit and below 150 lbs.

Downhill skiers, Karate and (strangely) top class Slalom kayak paddlers.

[Ed Harrow]

Chad, I wake up every morning 'knowing' my lower extremities are attached, if you get my drift. On random occasions I get the odd wake up call, LOL. Get it looked at, it will only get worse. Given the odd way my bones cojoin at my knees these days there is little that can be done, other than to start by intentionally rebreaking some of them...

PISN, I used to do something similar to that - sitting on the ground I'd bring one leg back, getting my foot as close to my butt as I could, stick the other leg straight out in front, and then sort of roll onto the near foot and straighten the leg, using my arms for balance. That, of course, was BC ;)

[Bruce Hooke]

It's on - and can be done - the only people I've seen do it first time were very fit and below 150 lbs.

Downhill skiers, Karate and (strangely) top class Slalom kayak paddlers.

Well, I can basically do this, but my form is not very good -- my leg is not as straight as it probably should be on the way up, and after the first try or two I can't quite get started on the way back up. The limiting issues for me are simply the leg strength for the first part of standing back up, and not quite enough flexibility to hold one leg straight out in front of me while holding onto my toe. I am just over 150 pounds and in fairly good shape, but I also may have practiced balance and control more than many people.

So, Chad, get it checked out. I am only two years younger than you. Your knee should not be giving out at 40. Some of these sorts of problems are best dealt with soon, rather than waiting until scar tissue has formed.

[skuthorp]

So far, at 63, no trouble with any of my joints. I weigh about 10.7 stone,(75Kilos), same as when I was 22 or so. Good genes I think.
Theres some reports here indicating that the new gen artificial knees and hip joints may not last as long as the older ones. Some are wearing out in months. Couldn't find a referance to the study, don't knoe if it's weight related or not or more about the persons occupation.

Time I went home, my typing's shot to bits!!

[cs]

Okay you guys may think I'm crazy, but here it is. The last couple of days my knee has felt better, still not 100% but getting better.

Of course I'm not no doctor but I did stay in a Holiday Day Inn last night. ;)

But really I've been to the doctor before about my knees and the best diagonsis they had was a meniscal tear and the felt it was better to wait till I it got almost unbearable. Something about the surgery make it worse and causeing arthritis to set up earlier. Of course these conclusions came after a series of MRI's and X-Rays. Took me over a year last time to pay off the doctor bills and for physical therapy.

I'm just going to suck it up for a while longer. If it don't get to 100% or at least what I can tolerate than maybe I will see another doctor.

But for now I will just gripe about it. ;)

Chad

[Popeye]

this stuff (http://www.osteobiflex.com/) any good?

[Bruce Hooke]

Okay you guys may think I'm crazy, but here it is...

Sounds to me like you've got a pretty good handle on the situation.

I know what it is like to have to weight getting health care against what it will cost you out of pocket to pay for it.

[cs]

Just as long as I can come here and grip about it I should be okay. ;)

Chad