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You: Hey Dan, You’ve been unofficially “retired” for over a month now. How’s that going for you?
Me: Yeah, it’s ok. It beats working I guess.
You: How many miles have you hiked?
Me: Well, I really haven’t done any hiking.
You: How about snowshoeing?
Me: That’s kind of like hiking…but with snowshoes. Nope, haven’t done any of that. I did walk down to the mailbox once though. That might count as exercising outdoors.
You: How about woodworking projects? Build anything cool?
Me: No, I really haven’t done many projects at all, woodworking or otherwise. It seems like I’m always cold so I normally stay in my home office with the door closed and my space heater on (wait, now that I’m not working should I call it a den rather than an office?).
You: Really? So what have you been doing?
Me: Well, I’ve been watching a ton of Youtube videos. And I’ve gone to the doctor a couple of times, had an x-ray, a cat scan, an MRI…and a colonoscopy.
You: Umm……retirement sure sounds like fun? Bro, you ok?
For the past fifteen or twenty years I’ve had a few ailments that have followed me around. They come, they go, I deal with them just like we all do our little issues. There are people who deal on a daily basis with far more impactful body failings than I. Still, over the course of the past few months it seems like all these little issues have kind of converged at the same time. In some ways it’s like my body says, you know, after thirty years of poor quality sleep and constant stress you should just take a break.
Now, it feels sort of narcissistic to talk about because there are people all over the world that don’t just work hard for thirty years and then sit down and relax. They work much harder than me from the time they can walk until the time they lay down for a final nap. Or, let’s think about those who have more serious life altering diseases. Raynaud’s can impact quality of life but it normally isn’t a terminal condition. Who am I to complain? So, let’s make it clear I’m not complaining and I feel extremely privileged to be able to have the luxury of sitting around watching Youtube videos while I play at being Dr. Dan.
That said, I thought I’d write a couple of posts over the next week or so that explain what’s going on with my body and my approach towards improving my health. Again, this isn’t to moan and groan over what I’m feeling or try to elicit sympathy. I don’t feel sorry for myself and neither should you. In some ways the whole thing has set me off on a quest to re-imagine my exercise routine and incorporate stretching and flexibility training into my life. I view this as a good thing and in the long run I’m confident this will allow me to stay active further into the golden years of life.
My problems are pretty common and inevitably I get one of two reactions when talking to people. Either they nod and say “oh, yup, I’ve got the same problem”, or they look at me with a blank stare until I explain what the problem is and then they nod and say “oh, yup, I’ve got the same problem”. Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. I’m not a doctor or a physical therapist and I’m not going to tell you that you have any certain condition or that what I’m doing works and you should do it if and when you find yourself in my situation. To be honest nothing has really been resolved with anything my body is going through so maybe I’m going about it all wrong. Especially in terms of the plantar fasciitis I think much of what I’m trying has some confirmational bias built in. Of course I’m sure I’ve done my due diligence and any other thinking is hogwash but who knows! I’ll explain in more detail what I mean when I write about that. In any event, I’m just going to share my experience and maybe that will help you someday.
So, what are these issues?
Well, my neck has been bothering me for maybe the past six months. I’m not going to talk about it much because, while the pain is still there, frankly I’ve pretty much ignored it the past month or so. I can only focus on one or two things at a time and I’ve lived with neck pain on and off for the past ten years or so and I pretty much think I know what’s going on. That said, we’ve done some tests in the past month just to rule out anything more serious.
Raynaud’s syndrome has also been part of my life for the past fifteen or twenty years. It’s probably the one thing I’ve told people about where they give me a blank stare and then when I explain it they get all animated and tell me they’ve got the same thing. I’ll explain more about what it is (or at least what I understand it to be), what my symptoms are, and how I’ve dealt with them (or failed to deal with them).
The third thing, and the one that’s given me the most grief the past few months, is plantar fasciitis. This is usually either something people have really never experienced or are very intimately experienced with. If they’ve never experienced it then they just say, “Oh, that’s interesting.” and they say it in a way that clearly indicates that it’s not at all interesting, and if they have experienced it then they say, “Dude, that sucks! Your life is barely worth living.” and they say it in a way that clearly indicates that they’re happy not to be in my shoes (no pun intended).
So, hang out with me the next couple of weeks while I explain what it’s like to have your body fall apart. Trust me, if you can’t relate yet, you will someday…
I’m excited to read these posts. Not happy you have to face these challenges, but we all have such unique experiences and perspectives that I always learn something new hearing from others. I am thankful you have the time to share.
I’m pretty sure I have Raynaud’s as well. I recently brought it up with my Parkinson’s activity group and several others had it as well. I thought, “maybe there’s a link” but from your post maybe just a lot of people have it and don’t talk about it.
Although I’ve not had plantar fasciitis, I have two recurring foot problems. When I do anything with impact EXCEPT hiking (so burpees, jogging, etc.) I get a pain on the side of my right foot associated with a lump there that doctors have dismissed in the past. It forced me to switch from jumping burpees to lunging up, but ironically, I don’t have issues with it when I hike. I’ve also developed a hammer toe on my left foot that might need surgery. It’s tough not to assume that’s related to PD because I have constant dystonia (muscle cramps) on that foot. I know when I jog of hike, I compensate for my left foot which throws other things out of whack.
You wrote a bit of a cliffhanger so looking forward to the next episode!