Mortality is a pain in the ass

I appreciate our elders sharing their experiences. I'm 43. As someone who didn't grow up with granddads due to poor choices in their lives, I hope that one day I can grow old. But I also realize hope only goes so far when it comes to my health

So I exercise regularly to help avoid injury doing the things I love, I don't drink or smoke, and try to be mindful about what foods I put into my body. A big one is limiting my sugar intake. This is a daily grind but I see it as making an investment into older swimmy.

I also live every day like its my last. Not in a take risk kind of way but I just don't want to look back when I'm 70-80-90 and say I wish I would've spent more time doing _______. No regrets. We only get one life and I'm doing my best to get the most out of it.

Last thing, I try to express gratitude. I see gratitude as one of, if not the, healthiest of emotions. I'm generally a positive person by nature so it is might be easier for me than for others. But every day I try to take a moment and count my blessings, especially when things seem to not be going my way.

If you have any other tips, I'd love to hear.
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swimmy said:
I appreciate our elders sharing their experiences. I'm 43. As someone who didn't grow up with granddads due to poor choices in their lives, I hope that one day I can grow old. But I also realize hope only goes so far when it comes to my health

So I exercise regularly to help avoid injury doing the things I love, I don't drink or smoke, and try to be mindful about what foods I put into my body. A big one is limiting my sugar intake. This is a daily grind but I see it as making an investment into older swimmy.

I also live every day like its my last. Not in a take risk kind of way but I just don't want to look back when I'm 70-80-90 and say I wish I would've spent more time doing _______. No regrets. We only get one life and I'm doing my best to get the most out of it.

Last thing, I try to express gratitude. I see gratitude as one of, if not the, healthiest of emotions. I'm generally a positive person by nature so it is might be easier for me than for others. But every day I try to take a moment and count my blessings, especially when things seem to not be going my way.

If you have any other tips, I'd love to hear.
L8VPdFIT_o.gif
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Remember; alcohol kills germs!
Do what you want. The few regrets I have are from not doing this. No matter how full your life will be, there is always some regret. :)
 
FontinalisFin said:
I'm mid 30s and had open heart surgery for an aortic aneurysm, that really puts the zap on ya knowing that was your set expiration date. Still havent fully mentally gotten over that.
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Same here. I had emergency and unexpected open heart surgery 4-1/2 years ago. I could have hit my expiration moment at any time and didn't know it, only had nagging suspicions of something not being quite right. I'm thankful to be this side of that point in time and far, far healthier now, but it does make you look into the face of mortality knowing that without a little luck and amazing medical care I would have been gone many years ago in my late 50's. Makes you appreciate things so much more.
 
rickrosner said:
Hello Jojo,

Morality? Mine is somewhere between Aleister Crowley and Mother Teresa.
Rick
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First off @rickrosner , you are NOT a whiner! And wow, lots of kind words and good advice here too.


And haha…. I had to look up who Aleister Crowley was. Oh wow. Was he ever something! Someone should make a movie about him!
 
Slimy Deck said:
I haven't been to the gym since 1st week of Mar 2020, nearly 2 yrs due to Covid aversion,
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Pick up a set of power bands off Amazon, set -up a routine....floor crunches, power bands, push-ups, planks...do some research, pick up an inexpensive excercise bike, spin in front of a TV, power walks. I'm 72, haven't been in the gym in two years, have a replaced hip, repaired shoulders and knee, work out pretty much every day. What you do now sets up the quality of the fourth quarter.

 
Jojo said:
First off @rickrosner , you are NOT a whiner! And wow, lots of kind words and good advice here too.


And haha…. I had to look up who Aleister Crowley was. Oh wow. Was he ever something! Someone should make a movie about him!
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There is a popular song about Mr. Crowley. John(Ozzy) Osbourne is the singer.
 
Best wishes everybody, I enjoy your company and hope everyone is around for a while. I'll be 60 this year and feel every bit of it. I worked and competed athletically with the same vigor that lead me die from drinking in king county detox having the dt's in '89. Put my body through hell, no concept of moderation. I plan for tomorrow, but figure it's not guaranteed, so I try to live each day with no regrets.
 
Tom Butler said:
Best wishes everybody, I enjoy your company and hope everyone is around for a while. I'll be 60 this year and feel every bit of it. I worked and competed athletically with the same vigor that lead me die from drinking in king county detox having the dt's in '89. Put my body through hell, no concept of moderation. I plan for tomorrow, but figure it's not guaranteed, so I try to live each day with no regrets.
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I used to drink a lot when I was single. I was about two steps from being a alcoholic. It made me give it all up. Now when I do have a few. I stop were I feel buzzed. That time was 6 months ago.
 
SurfnFish said:
Pick up a set of power bands off Amazon, set -up a routine....floor crunches, power bands, push-ups, planks...do some research, pick up an inexpensive excercise bike, spin in front of a TV, power walks. I'm 72, haven't been in the gym in two years, have a replaced hip, repaired shoulders and knee, work out pretty much every day. What you do now sets up the quality of the fourth quarter.

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That is all fantastic advise. There’s a tarpon guide in Florida that said “I’m driven to stay in shape because when I’m not I’m not driven to fish”. That resonates with me.

Thank you SnF!
 
Brian Miller said:
I'm really sorry to hear about your kidneys.
5 months ago I got a call from my health insurance company saying that my annual physical labs showed that I had been in and out of stage 3 CKD for 10 years, and asked if I wanted to enroll in a program to help learn about CKD, manage it, and possibly prevent renal failure and dialysis, at no charge to me. HECK YEAH!!!

1st thing they said was to get a referral from my PCP to a Nephrologist. I went to my PCP in the civilian clinic I had been going to for 30 years and said "My labs have shown I have had CKD for 10 years, why didn't you tell me and refer me for specialty care????!!" His response... "We don't do anything unless we see a trend." WHAT???? You're not going to tell me or refer me for further care until I'm one step away from dialysis???

Anyhow I got the referral. The Nephrologist did my workup and said my "BP was hammering my kidneys." WHAT???? My PCP didn't tell me I had chronic hypertension. I now have a new PCP. ***I also got a referral to a CKD dietician through my VA PCP***.

The Nephrologist prescribed a low dose of Losartan, told me to limit salt intake to 2gm to 3gm (it's tracking at 1.5gm), and to drink at least 80 ounces of water per day. After 90 days my BP was normal, my kidney levels are normal with apparently no permanent damage, and I lost 20 lbs without increasing physical activity.
WOW!!!
And now I'm working out 3-4 times a week. The journey continues.

Pay attention to your annual physical and lab results. WATCH FOR, LISTEN, ASK, and ADVOCATE FOR YOURSELF if something turns up abnormal.
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One more thing
***I had been getting a ton of dietary info from the CKD "program" my health insurance company enrolled me in. It was like drinking out of a firehose! I was soooo overwhelmed just dealing with knowing I had CKD and chronic hypertension, then trying to manage it. I mentioned that in the first appointment with my VA CKD dietician who showed me some shortcuts to use when reading food labels. She also suggested using an "app"; "My Fitness Pal" to track my diet that would show my daily micronutrients sodium and potassium intake. I had used the app "Fat Secret" after beginning a diet and fitness program the health insurance company I worked for back in 2010 (and retired from after 23 years; now my Med Advantage Plan) offered to its employees. In 10 months I had lost 55 lbs and have kept most of it off. However the diet portion of the program emphasized macronutrients and did not stress fiber, limits on the sodium and potassium micros, maybe because it combined working out 5 days a week? I had spent weeks building menus in the app that made tracking my daily ongoing food intake very easy but wasn't consistently tracking my diet over the last few years. So after hearing about an "app" I checked, and lo and behold, "Fat Secret" shows the micros sodium and potassium!
THAT IS A GAME CHANGER for managing a (CKD) diet plan. I can watch my nutrients as I eat and plan accordingly to stay within my goals through the day.
 
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A lot of good advice here and some that is uninformed.

8 years ago I was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer with metastasis to the brain. They gave me 6 months to a year to live. Brain surgery to remove a golf ball size tumor, gamma knife on two other brain tumors, 6 rounds chemo, 2+ more years of maintenance chemo, radiation treatments, 3 years immunotherapy, a second cancer diagnosis of liver cancer, another surgery removing a third of my liver and my gall bladder. That was over two years ago. My doctors call me their miracle patient.

I‘m still fishing. And during this time my oldest son got married. I acquired two more grandchildren. I spend some of my time now trying to help newly diagnosed cancer patients with navigating the many pitfalls associated with a cancer diagnosis.

No regrets. I rarely look back unless I see a lesson I need to learn. I don’t give much time to negativity. Life is everywhere you look, everywhere.
 
kerrys said:
A lot of good advice here and some that is uninformed.

8 years ago I was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer with metastasis to the brain. They gave me 6 months to a year to live. Brain surgery to remove a golf ball size tumor, gamma knife on two other brain tumors, 6 rounds chemo, 2+ more years of maintenance chemo, radiation treatments, 3 years immunotherapy, a second cancer diagnosis of liver cancer, another surgery removing a third of my liver and my gall bladder. That was over two years ago. My doctors call me their miracle patient.

I‘m still fishing. And during this time my oldest son got married. I acquired two more grandchildren. I spend some of my time now trying to help newly diagnosed cancer patients with navigating the many pitfalls associated with a cancer diagnosis.

No regrets. I rarely look back unless I see a lesson I need to learn. I don’t give much time to negativity. Life is everywhere you look, everywhere.
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This is inspiring to hear, my mom was stage 4 kidney cancer, removed kidney but it had spread to lungs etc. Immunotherapy is really a game changer. Unfortunately the red tape in the medical industrial complex has her limmited to 2 years on immunotherapy despite it WORKING. Her scans show incredible progress. But she will be forced to stop.
 
FontinalisFin said:
This is inspiring to hear, my mom was stage 4 kidney cancer, removed kidney but it had spread to lungs etc. Immunotherapy is really a game changer. Unfortunately the red tape in the medical industrial complex has her limmited to 2 years on immunotherapy despite it WORKING. Her scans show incredible progress. But she will be forced to stop.
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I don’t understand why your mother will be forced to stop treatment.
 
Respect, Kerrys...our best friend is in year two of stage 4 battle, and every day is precious to her.

We get older, our body cannot process as it used to. Alcohol, saturated fats, sugar ,salt..the list is long of what we put into our body that will accelerate our decline.
Conversely, either quit or limit the booze, eat fresh food, lots of good water exercise...aside from our DNA which we cannot avoid, we maximize our chance at longer and better.
And aside from booze and cigarettes, nothing more damaging then being overweight. Had my first serious sports injury in early 30's, repaired by a really good orthopedist (49er team surgeon) and worked with an excellent sport med PT after...they both said the same thing, the closer you can stay to what you weighed at 25, the better chance you'll have of dealing with less joint and health issues instead of more.
 
kerrys said:
I don’t understand why your mother will be forced to stop treatment.
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Its over my head, but from what I have gathered they havent seen any gains from going past 2 years, so they wont support it. Shes in a relative new area, still young at 60 for the type of cancer she has, it's mostly in older folks. So their data doent support going further. She is under the care of OHSU so they arnt kicking her to the curb, they will keep treating her in one way or another, its just frustrating the red tape. Pfizer is the company that owns the immunotherapy.
 
Brian Miller said:
One more thing
***I had been getting a ton of dietary info from the CKD "program" my health insurance company enrolled me in. It was like drinking out of a firehose! I was soooo overwhelmed just dealing with knowing I had CKD and chronic hypertension, then trying to manage it. I mentioned that in the first appointment with my VA CKD dietician who showed me some shortcuts to use when reading food labels. She also suggested using an "app"; "My Fitness Pal" to track my diet that would show my daily micronutrients sodium and potassium intake. I had used the app "Fat Secret" after beginning a diet and fitness program the health insurance company I worked for back in 2010 (and retired from after 23 years; now my Med Advantage Plan) offered to its employees. In 10 months I had lost 55 lbs and have kept most of it off. However the diet portion of the program emphasized macronutrients and did not stress fiber, limits on the sodium and potassium micros, maybe because it combined working out 5 days a week? I had spent weeks building menus in the app that made tracking my daily ongoing food intake very easy but wasn't consistently tracking my diet over the last few years. So after hearing about an "app" I checked, and lo and behold, "Fat Secret" shows the micros sodium and potassium!
THAT IS A GAME CHANGER for managing a (CKD) diet plan. I can watch my nutrients as I eat and plan accordingly to stay within my goals through the day.
Click to expand...
I've used that app "My Fitness Pal" for several years now and follow it religiously everyday. Great program and it's FREE..
 
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