Another Milestone!

Another sign of ageing this morning, when at the local hospital I got fitted with my new hearing aids.

The family had been pointing out in mostly kind ways that I wasn’t able always to follow conversations as I used to. Asking people to repeat what they have said can be very annoying and having the TV on too loudly is, understandably, very unwelcome. I had got used to looking attentive and reasonably interested when people were talking to me, when in fact sometimes I wasn’t sure what they were saying, and catching their drift was not only not enough, but deceitful and lacking in respect. Mostly, however, I managed and in one-to-one conversations there was usually no problem.

But to admit that here there was a problem felt like yet facing another unwelcome milestone on the road to physical deterioration! I was in part denial.

Eventually I yielded, saw my doctor and was referred to the audiology department of our excellent hospital. I went through a series of tests, which apparently revealed that, whilst I was only a medium case (that was a comfort), I was incapable of hearing higher frequencies. I hoped therefore that I could be released with a caution, but no, I was advised to join the hard of hearing fraternity, which now I have done.

The difference is plain but not sensational. Street sounds were more intrusive than usual. Coming home on the bus I could hear in more detail what people around me were saying. I have been testing TV sound and it is certainly clearer at a lower volume than previously. As I write the key board is clattering away with a quite new sound. When I speak my voice is amplified in a very odd way. The family clock just above me, is louder than before as the pendulum clicks away. Soon no doubt I shall get used to these new experiences.

All of this of course was free, with lots of spare batteries thrown in as well. I thanked the audiologist for her help and the gracious way she had dealt with me, affirming as I have often done the superb National Health Service we enjoy in this country. It is the achievement of the Labour Party which is now holding its annual Conference, and being roundly pilloried by the media which presumes to speak for public opinion.

Some chance for the future if the Labour government is replaced at the next General Election!

Bryan

Arthritis

I mentioned (last November) that most weeks I go to cardiac rehabilitation sessions. At each of the four weekly sessions, there are about twenty or so older men and two or three women who have been through some sort of critical heart trouble. It is a mildly athletic occasion, but also a social one. We talk. Often we talk about our ailments in response to the repeated question, ’how are you?’ Often we tell the story of how we are coping with arthritis.

I have been searching the internet. There are apparently two main forms of the condition, rheumatoid arthritis being the most serious. Described as a chronic, progressive and disabling auto-immune disease (i.e. the body is actually attacking itself) it affects. 0.8% of the U.K. population and although it varies person from person, it can cause severe disability, ultimately affecting one’s ability to carry out everyday tasks. Cartilage and bone around the joints of hands, wrists and feet swell and can be damaged. A systematic disease, it can spread and affect the whole body and internal organs. Apart from the obvious effects of inheritance and environment, the causes of rheumatoid arthritis have still to be understood. It can affect men at about the age of 45; women ten years later.

Osteoarthritis is more often experienced by older people, is the result of ‘wear and tear’, and affects the larger weight bearing joints such as the hips and knees. The cartilage (the waxy, smooth surface that allows joints to move easily and without friction) is damaged. Apparently there are changes in the ligaments and muscles which would normally stabilise the affected joints. Bony growths can develop around the edge of them, causing them to become knobbly. The bones in the joint thicken and get broader and the tissue around it becomes inflamed and swell. It is estimated that are about 8 million of us in the U.K. who suffer from arthritis.

With rheumatoid arthritis the stiffness is worst after rest, such as first thing in the morning, the pain lasting for some time, whereas osteoarthritis responds positively to rest, and pain can be brief and less severe and persistent. Both conditions are progressive, which is the really bad news, but in each case, healthy living, and for osteoarthritis, regular exercise are ways of reducing the discomfort involved. And in both cases, severity varies from person to person and from time to time. As most things do!

Bryan

Continuity

I have been visiting old friends recently – in Northampton, Birkenhead, Sheffield and Exeter; catching up on their news and sharing some of my own. J.P. e- mailed afterwards : ‘ though it may be a couple of years since we last talked, the conversation seemed to pick up where we left off’. It was like that for me all the time. There were new things to learn, family and work developments to hear about, the inevitable swapping of health stories, but the gaps in contact over the years were bridged by this sense of continuity. Part of the reason for this is that we have many experiences in common. Two of us have known each other since college days; and all of us have wonderful wives!

I feel that there is this common base for our friendships, from which we can move with confidence to sharing more recent events. Four of my six friends are the same age as me, and there are inevitable connections because of that, living through the same years. A subject in common was ‘where shall we move when this house becomes too much for us?!

It also helps that, although we are very different, we get worked up about the same things, and have similar political perspectives. Well, not similar : the same! But for all of us there have been critical moments in our lives when we became aware of each other and at the risk of sounding pretentious, have bonded and found strength in each other.

Reflecting about the past is one of the things older people do. Looking back with gratitude or grief (‘if only I had done it differently’) is the inevitable consequence of having lived a long time, and accepting that there are not many years ahead for us. But without being unduly sentimental, there is something positive and contemporaneous about cherishing friends; they are not about what has been or will be, but about now.

Back home our granddaughter had just begun, with enormous enthusiasm, her secondary education. One of the first exercises in her new class was for groups to discuss what friendship is all about. Her group came up with this: ‘kindness, trust, love, understanding, dependability, shared fun.’ A good definition!

Bryan