You should have an easier time recovering than younger people do. Older folks are more used to aches and pains.
Those were the cheery words of the surgeon during Andy’s pre-hernia appointment last fall. He was right, Andy thought the recovery was fairly easy.
Have you noticed anything getting easier as you get older?
April 6, 2015
And my shoulder specialist and GP told me exactly the opposite. I will take longer to get back to normalcy than younger people but like Andy was told, I would find it easier to cope because at my age the threshold for tolerance of pain is higher than for younger people! My shoulder is still to get back to normal.
I’m afraid I’m not surprised about your shoulder. It took mine forever to heal. And that was about 12 years ago, and I had several months of physical therapy to help unfreeze it. The good news was it wasn’t serious and would eventually get better, and we switched to automatic transmission when we bought a new car. One of the main criteria for the car was that I could get in and out of it relatively easily, and that I could close the door when I was a passenger. It’s amazing how many cars we eliminated with that little item. That shoulder was frozen and painful!
Good luck and patience!
I think I’m better at separating the important things from the unimportant. I don’t waste a lot of time on stuff that in the long-run doesn’t matter in the slightest.
I’m getting slightly better at that too. I still need a lot of practice!
I don’t know about pain, –would I have complained more about arthritic pain and stiffness when I was 40 than I do now? — but I do know it’s easier to quit reading a not very good book, watching a movie or TV program, listening to a political argument, reading the NYTimes, than it used to be. Instead I go do something that feels good: playing the piano, absorbing myself in a book that’s actually a good book, leisurely weeding the garden while soaking in wind, water, sun. Or, if I’m feeling sociable, making plans to go for walks with friends, having a potluck dinner, and suchlike. All of that’s easier than it was when I felt so much responsibility–for family, job, global well-being.
All I have to say is, “Yay, retirement!” It’s such a luxury to be able to choose how we spend our time. We have often enough to deal with without other external pressures.
for some reason i’ve always had a very high threshold for pain.
which in some ways can be a bad thing.
pain is sometimes a signal your body sends that something is wrong.
by the time it’s at a level i acknowledge… i’m often in a danger zone.
i guess there are upsides and downsides to everything.
i find life in general just easier now. i like myself. and i don’t expect as much as i used to. i’m more content with just enjoying my life. i’ve finally put to rest my father’s voice in my head… the voice of authority. you must. you should. i expect you.
i still love him. but he’s not running things anymore! LOLOL.
I’m glad your father is no longer running the show. Good for you! It does take a while, doesn’t it?
Since I deleted a fair amount of stressors from my life, life has been better… When people – like this example just this week “the best time will be Wednesday afternoon as I know you have to get the bus to/from and I don’t want you to waste your precious time” – well in some ways that was good having a time frame – but nothing nowadays is a complete waste of time…
If I had missed either bus (I didn’t) I’m quite happy to wait and “watch” things. Or amble up/down to the next bus stop.
Somehow life has changed a lot in just a few months for real, before that it was the doctor (now turns out she was wrong) who advised less heavy exercise, slow down. It was hard for a few months and then suddenly it was like a light bulb – “well hey there Cathy, you don’t need to do exercise in this way”
part of the realisation and change was via a friend of mine at University (not student) who put me onto Blue Zones – I’m slowly adapting changes through that way…and enjoying it to boot. Life is far easier 🙂
I had to look up Blue Zones — good for you! It sounds similar to what tammy is doing now. Thanks for letting me know.