Getting Older is not for Wimps

Life always throws curve balls, this is true at any age.  Is it imagination that the curves seem more treacherous as we get older?  Or does it just feel that way?  I am not sure.  First, everyone’s children were graduating from high school, then college….now they are getting married, having careers, searching for careers, starting real adult lives.  There are boomerangs here and there, but for the most part, life is marching on.  There are illnesses, setbacks, retirements…our parents are aging.  Just this year a few of my friends and I have lost our parents or parent, some of my friends have lost friends to cancer or other illnesses.  I lost my mom about 6 weeks ago to emphysema, the same lung disease that claimed my father at the age of 59.  My husband had surgery scheduled for this next week, but on Friday we ended up taking him to the emergency room, and he has been diagnosed with pneumonia.  He is in isolation, and I have a virus (probably the same one that sent him spiraling into pneumonia) so I am unable to visit him at the moment.  My daughter is in Chicago visiting her boyfriend, and my son and his girlfriend are on their way to Alaska for 3 weeks, which is wonderful….their dogs and cats are with me, 4 dogs and 3 cats in the house (and that is the fun part).

Almost a week has gone by since I wrote the above, and Randy remains in ICU.  His progress is on an upward trend, but very slowly.  He is critical, but stable.  I am well, so I took him Coke (the soft drink, of course), root beer, and granola bars.  Oh, and a ton of movies he can watch on his computer.  Randy was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis 3 years ago, but the doctors at National Jewish Health in Denver and UT Southwestern in Dallas believe there is another disease process going on, probably auto-immune.  I don’t know when they might be able to do a biopsy now….his lungs are still in a very inflamed state.  It happened so fast, I cannot believe this is happening.  I really feel like I am in some alternative universe.

So, what sense to make of it all?  Each phase of life has its positives and not so positives.  When I was young I was too thin, now I cannot get weight OFF.  My cousin, 9 years younger, has had cancer, two of our best friends have had cancer, there have been heart by passes and divorces and every time I turn around, I have pulled a new muscle.  Or I move an inch and scream, “ouch”!  As we get older, all we have to do is move and we get hurt.  Right now, Randy and I are determined he will take a positive turn and get better.  It will be a long road ahead, but we want to stay on the road.  I will keep you posted on the surreal.