CREEPING OLD AGE

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My salad days!

If you are over 65, you start to get a sense of getting older when people hold doors open for you, no one flips you the bird any more, and they are all passing you in the HOV lane! Young beautiful women are smiling at you without even initiating it, and you wonder: Why couldn’t I evoke THAT 10 years ago? Not that anything would have come of it, TLW (The Little Woman) would find out somehow.

With my back pain I went to this surgeon who along with medication recommended me to a physical therapist. A nice genial fellow who seems to know his business, ‘Joe’ gave me some exercises to work with and they seem to be helping. Just a few days ago, if I was down on the ground, doing something on both knees, I had to think about how I was going to get up again! Now, no problem, I get right up.

TLW has remarked how it was Monday I was doing something on the floor, and Monday I managed to get up, that is progress! She is now thinking about trying the exercise too. If she thinks about it, it counts as exercise for her, and she will get more limber, me on the other hand need to work hard.

The ‘equipment’ needed is a towel and a long belt. Two exercises are with the towel, to stretch out the muscles in the legs and butt, and the belt is for stretching the leg muscles. I have to do them twice a day and I do. I don’t know if I will be able to do the afternoon ones every day, but I certainly will try.

The issue that develops is that I have to count to 20 relax and count to 20 again, doing this 5 times with each leg. As you do this you can easily lose count, your mind can wander and you ask yourself if it is the second set or the third or fourth! Your hands start to hurt after the second or third session of doing these so you have to deal with that too. But the results, wonderful! I feel better already: and like I said, I can get off the ground the same day I got on it, if it is early enough in the day.

When Joe asked me how I felt after the first session doing that, I remarked that although I thought it was too soon to tell, I really can count to 20! At least I didn’t throw in the towel yet.