Today is Friday, February 29, 2008. That sentence was on the blackboard every day when I was in grade school. There was always another sentence about the weather. Today is sunny. Occasionally there would be another sentence, but always those two. Interesting that this is Leap Year Day. People born this day don't have to age at the same rate as the rest of us if they choose not too. And this aging business is quite a complex issue. I can remember Grandma having Carter's Little Liver Pills and Lydia Pinkham's bottles always in her medicine chest. Then there was Geritol and now I think it is Omega 3 that is supposed to keep us energetic and full of vitality. So far I can't see much magical about Omega 3 but I keep taking it, hoping I feel better for it.
Some days I feel like an old car. You know how cars begin to wear out. One week, the brakes quit. Just when you get that fixed something else goes wrong. Well, that is happening to me. First, it was being diagosed with Type II diabetes. For a long time, I was able to control that with diet and exercise. But now I have medication. Some days I do well, other days not so well with my blood sugar. We just changed insurance companies and now I have to get used to a new glucometer. You guessed it! This insurance company won't supply the strips for the one I have. And why not? I keep asking myself. Oh well, even though I am an "old dog" I am going to try to learn "new tricks."
My knees started giving me trouble. If I am sitting down they don't hurt. But I'm not ready to sit down constantly. Thank goodness, my chiropractor keeps me so I can walk pretty well. I've got an exercise bike that helps keep me moving, too. The knee thing comes and goes. I've got a nice expensive knee brace that helps. I can remember Mother having lots of knee pain. She bought every piece of knee help she could find - from Dr. Leonard's catalog, Walter Drake's catalog, or the Parade magazine in the local newspaper. They weren't really expensive and they would each help for awhile. I decided to just go with the expensive one first. Forget those others.
The knee thing had pretty well subsided when the head started acting up. One night, well, one morning really, about 4 A.M. I had to get up. When I went back to bed the room just started spinning and I started screaming. Glen said I wasn't really screaming - just moaning. I'm sure the neighbors would probably say I was screaming. Ohmigosh! It was awful. I thought I was having a heart attack or something. Now I find out that it was not as unique as I thought. "Just vertigo," the Dr. said. Whoa! I don't want that again. But now I find out lots of people have it. Oh, my!
In the past two weeks I have been able to lie down gently and slowly on my left side. And I can sleep in a chair (the recliner works great). I guess what scares me the most is that it can happen again. To everyone who has ever had an episode like mine I say you are marvelous to have kept functioning.
I know there are so many things about the wonderful body that each of us has that can go wrong. And I am grateful for all the years I've had with so few problems. And I know that I can look forward to more challenges as my "car" gets older and older. I shouldn't crab about anything. There are people with way more problems than me. I thank the Lord every day for my blessings. I pray also that I can have enthusiasm to the end. I don't want to just endure to the end.
That's it for today.